Garret Dillahunt, left, and Alan Cumming in ANY DAY NOW (Music Box Films)

Directed by Travis Fine
Produced by Fine, Kristine Hostetter Fine, Chip Hourihan & Liam Finn
Written by Fine & George Arthur Bloom
Released by Music Box Films.
USA. 97 min. Rated R
With Alan Cumming, Garret Dillahunt, Isaac Leyva, Frances Fisher, Jamie Anne Allman, Kelli Williams, Gregg Henry & Chris Mulkey

It’s 1979, and being gay is very taboo. Many would not even think of trying to start a family. Rudy Donatello is not one of those many.

Rudy (Alan Cumming who has never been better) lives in a not-so-great apartment in Los Angeles. His neighbor, a drug-addicted prostitute, lives with her 14-year-old boy with Down syndrome, Marco (Isaac Leyva, who does, in fact, have Down syndrome). Rudy is openly gay, and works as a drag queen in a nightclub, where he meets Paul (Garret Dillahunt), a newly divorced, closeted district attorney looking to start a new life as a gay man.

Any Day Now tells both Rudy and Paul’s love story and their legal battle to raise Marco after his mother is jailed on drug charges. The teen is first taken away by family services, but he flees from his foster home. While out on a date, Rudy and Paul spot Marco on the street in the middle of the night. Rudy wants to take him in, and he seeks out his mother to sign papers for temporary custody.

Paul informs Rudy that they need to keep their relationship a secret to win their suit and to act as cousins when in public, something Rudy is not happy about. However, after their secret is found out, they fight an impossible custody case against the state of California. Rudy and Paul definitely grow stronger, and Paul breaks his silence as a gay man, especially after he is outed at work and fired because of it.

In this court room drama, you want Rudy and Paul to win. It’s clear they should. I won’t spoil it though. With this film being based on a true story, don’t go investigating to see what happens. Not knowing makes the film that much better. And for such a low-budget film, the filmmakers went above and beyond to capture the look of the period, without giving away the size of the budget.

The performances, Cumming’s especially, are what is best about the film. Most may know Cumming as more of a comedic actor and for his role on The Good Wife. He really shines in revealing his dramatic range (and singing voice) here.