In 2020, Emmy and Tony Award-winning gay national treasure Sean Hayes took the unfortunate misstep of playing the titular character in “Lazy Susan,” a movie for which he co-wrote the screenplay. It’s painful to even think about the gifted Hayes playing that lead role in that dismal movie.
Which begs the question why gay actor John Early would want to play the role of food influencer Maddie in “Maddie’s Secret” (Magnolia Pictures), a hard to digest movie that Early wrote and directed. Aside from being what could best be described as a kind of “gender appropriation,” there’s a sense of overblown ego, as if Early believed that no other performer, of any gender, could have done this character justice.
After working as a dishwasher at internet food/cooking site Gourmaybe, Maddie (Early), who has impressive cooking skills, is inadvertently discovered by her horrible boss Zach (Conner O’Malley), much to the chagrin of the network’s star Emily (Claudia O’Doherty). Championed by lesbian dishwasher Deena (queer actor Kate Berlant) as well as her supportive husband Jake (Eric Rahill), Maddie is thrust into the limelight and is given her own show.
Everything is moving along, and Maddie is doing her best to juggle everything, including the lie she told Jake about being pregnant. However, Maddie is hiding an even more detrimental secret – she is recovering from a life-threatening eating disorder. Ultimately, her obsession with perfection, as well as maintaining what she considers a presentable physical appearance, leads to her suffering cardiac arrest, being hospitalized, and having her history of bulimia nervosa exposed for all to see.
What follows is an endless, and troublesome, segment involving Maddie’s stint in a treatment center, where she shares a room with Julie (Vanessa Bayer). Additionally, her opportunity to become a culinary producer for the sixth season of the popular streaming series “The Boar” is at risk. Everything comes to a head when Maddie’s horrible mother Beverlee (Kristen Johnson) shows up for one of her therapy sessions with Dr. Kronenfeld (Chris Bauer) at the center, where the source of Maddie’s eating disorder is revealed.
Early is someone who made his name as both a standup comic and a comedic actor. That is why it is so shocking and disappointing how humorless “Maddie’s Secret” turns out to be. As for Early’s portrayal of Maddie, it is confusing, to say the least, how this casting even happened.
Rating: D
