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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Wendy Ide

Swan Song review – amiable tale of a hairdresser’s final flourish

Udo Kier as the ‘Liberace of hairdressing’ in Swan Song.
Udo Kier as the ‘Liberace of hairdressing’ in Swan Song. Photograph: Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures.

Formerly the “Liberace of hairdressing”, Patrick (character Udo Kier) has packed away his flamboyant personality along with his sequins and costume jewellery in a vanity case under the bed in his retirement home. Then he is summoned to do one final job – the hair and makeup of his former client turned arch nemesis (Jennifer Coolidge) – for her own funeral. As he makes the long trek across town by way of its only remaining drag bar, Patrick reconnects with the fabulous creature he once was.

Todd Stephens’s film is an amiable little story, and Kier is clearly enjoying himself immensely, but this is as wafting and insubstantial as Patrick’s chiffon scarf.

Watch a trailer for Swan Song.
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