Any Day Now: 2012, USA, 97 mins. Director: Travis Fine. Cast: Alan Cumming, Frances Fisher, Garret Dillahunt, Isaac Leyva. M - Offensive language,sexual references and drug use. Any Day Now throws you straight into the sepia-toned world of struggling musician Rudy Donatello, played warmly by Alan Cumming, who meets and begins seeing closeted lawyer Paul Fleiger (Garret Dillahunt). He needs the lawyer's help he needs when a wreck of a neighbour’s Down syndrome teenager Marco has been left alone after she is arrested. Donatello wants to take care of the boy, who he forms a quick bond with, but Family Services intervenes. While Marco’s mother signs temporary guardianship over to him, a homophobic society and legal system throws up the kind of challenges you can imagine in the late-70s. While the storyline and dialogue can seem a little paint by numbers in places, this film has plenty of strength thanks to the zest of Cumming and a study performance by Dillahunt. However Isaac Leyva gives the film its heart in his wonderful portrayal of Marco. While it’s a drama which is utterly frustrating due to the appalling discrimination that was a standard of the time, Any Day Now is also a sweet and entertaining romance which is dotted with drag shows and vocal performances from Alan Cumming. Take your tissues. It’s heart-breaking. It’s the kind of film that makes you feel utterly frustrated at the generations upon generations of past stupidity, but also incredibly grateful we live in a time where in most places, things are much better. Any Day Now is showing at Paramount Wellington. It will be at Rialto in Auckland from 3 July, Focal Point Feilding on 3 July and Alice Cinema in Christchurch in early August. Jacqui Stanford - 1st July 2014