DEAR EVAN HANSEN Movie Musical - News & Discussion Thread- Page 27

[BwayLB]

Posted: 9/10/21 at 10:52am

NameGreg said: "Dolly80 said: "Oh wow this is getting som truly awful reviews. Starting to think it could actually damage the stage shows reputation also."

Yeah I’m worried about that. Even worse is that the lead who was so praised onstage is getting torn down as well,though he’s also getting legitimate praise in several reviews at the same time.

The original show and Platt’s detractors have been trying to turn this into a punchline since the first trailer, but given the crappy advertising for this, I’m hopeful that the mainstream public will soon forget about this film. It’s not like Cats where it’s being pushed everywhere, there’s very little attention surrounding the film, and all of it is coming from theatre audiences.And sort of like Phantom, at least it has the critically acclaimed Broadway version still running to remind people why they liked it in the first place.

Anyway, it’s extremely irritating seeing mentions of Julianne Moore having a small role. Her part was the second biggest on Broadway, and easily the strongest supporting character. The fact that they cut down they apparently cut down the part so much is an awful decision. In fact, the adult angle seems heavily downplayed here, as all but one of the adult’s songs have been cut (Requiem’s still there, but that’s primarily led by a teen). Doesn’t help that the one they left in occurs right near the end, which tells me we go almost the whole thing without the older perspective that really helped the story onstage.

I thought since they announced the film though that the whole thing was questionable, as the show was written wasn’t cinematic at all, and the team assembled for the film didn’t seem like they’d be able to properly change that. Almost definitely would’ve just been better to release a pro shot."

Since I saw the national tour in 2019, I was afraid the movie would be half baked. The stage version was good enough for an intimate story.

[Kad]

Posted: 9/10/21 at 11:02am

I can’t say I’m terribly surprised by the mixed to negative reviews. Something about this project always seemed off to me- it always seemed to me to have the appearance of being slightly past its window of opportunity, and of an adaptation that seemed to be overly reliant on its stage prestige. I think the DEH bubble burst a while back as conversations around mental health and online behavior have shifted, and as the details of the plot became wider known.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 9/10/21 at 11:03am

The stage version is perfect and intimate. I wish they would have just filmed it at the Music Box years ago.

[DEHFanatic]

Posted: 9/10/21 at 11:09am

^ Agree 1000% percent!!

I was lucky to score a TIFF streaming ticket so saw the movie last night. I was up till 3:30am last night so I'm exhausted so will share my thoughts once I've collected them lol. There was lots I liked, some I didn't, but suffice it to say my my original desire for a pro-shot of the stage show still stands.

Updated On: 9/10/21 at 11:09 AM

[BwayLB]

Posted: 9/10/21 at 11:12am

I would have wanted the proshot if it was 2017 or 2018 again.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 9/10/21 at 11:20am

I think it's pretty obvious that we wanted the original cast for the pro shot so yeah around 2017.

[Musical Master]

Posted: 9/10/21 at 11:29am

A pro-shot would've been more appropriate considering that this was made for a more intimate stage, which is something extremely hard to translate to film. Big musicals like In The Heights and West Side Story among others, are easier to translate to film because a director can do so many things with it from a cinematography, direction and musical number point of view. Dear Evan Hansen however, is more smaller in nature so that can be extremely hard to pull it off, maybe an animated film could've been interesting but that's not what we got.

I'll still see it when it comes out but I'm going in with low expectations.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 9/10/21 at 11:31am

100%

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 9/10/21 at 11:34am

I'm in the minority, but I always though the book was better than the score, so I personally think if they had made a movie from the book, they would've had more opportunity to explores the nuances and adjust them as needed for a movie audience. (Also, they probably could've case someone besides Ben Platt as the lead, so it would've have to be built as much around his character as the musical needs.)

[SmokeyLady]

Posted: 9/10/21 at 11:35am

Kad said: "I can’t say I’m terribly surprised by the mixed to negative reviews. Something about this project always seemed off to me- it always seemed to me to have the appearance of being slightly past its window of opportunity, and of an adaptation that seemed to be overly reliant on its stage prestige. I think the DEH bubble burst a while back as conversations around mental health and online behavior have shifted, and as the details of the plot became wider known"

Agreed.  Something about the whole thing was icky to me from the beginning .    With the show itself I just thought I was too old to accept it.   And the movie project just seemed like a vanity thing from the second I saw the much maligned trailer. 

[SomeOtherMe]

Posted: 9/10/21 at 11:52am

The biggest turn off for me has been Platt's cringy "this movie wouldn't even exist without me!" comments. Which to be fair, he probably regrets saying right about now.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 9/10/21 at 11:55am

The show is definitely designed for a younger audience, perhaps older people didn't connect with Evan the way a younger person can. I don't know Ben but it seems he can't handle criticism very well. I get it, he was almost universally praised for this show on Broadway, so this must sting a bit. 

However, from his beach house in Malibu, he will be just fine!

[BwayLB]

Posted: 9/10/21 at 11:56am

^ To be honest ever since his dad was first involved in the project, it wasn’t surprised Ben would be casted at all. I would be happy for him if it wasn’t for the hairdo and if it was 2019 again.

[VotePeron]

Posted: 9/10/21 at 11:57am

A pro-shot would’ve changed nothing. The general, non-theatre going public would’ve responded to the material just the same, and honestly much less people would’ve seen it. But if it makes you feel better thinking that…

[Alex Kulak2]

Posted: 9/10/21 at 11:57am

Every film or TV project led by Ben has gotten lukewarm reviews at best. Something tells me he's gonna start working with his Dad a whole lot more...

[Kad]

Posted: 9/10/21 at 11:58am

Sutton Ross said: "The show is definitely designed for a younger audience, perhaps older people didn't connect with Evan the way a younger person can. I don't know Ben but it seems he can't handle criticism very well. I get it, he was almost universally praised for this show on Broadway, so this must sting a bit.

However, from his beach house in Malibu, he will be just fine! "

But the flip side of that is that the target online teenage audience these days may be far less likely to forgive the character's actions, or accept the story as being worthwhile.

Dear Evan Hansen may seem very recent, but in pop culture, 5-6 years is a long time. It's basically a generation of high schoolers. Hell, the Tony Awards ceremony where it cleaned up was hosted by Kevin Spacey.

Updated On: 9/10/21 at 11:58 AM

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 9/10/21 at 12:01pm

Great points, Kad. And you are probably absolutely right.

[SomeOtherMe]

Posted: 9/10/21 at 12:04pm

Sutton Ross said: "I don't know Ben but it seems he can't handle criticism very well. I get it, he was almost universally praised for this show on Broadway, so this must sting a bit."

For sure. I'm pretty sure he probably had the mindset of "just wait until all the incredible movie reviews come out praising my performance... That'll show them." That it doesn't seem to be what will happen is probably very disappointing and even angering for him.

 

[DAME]

Posted: 9/10/21 at 12:05pm

Sutton Ross said: "The show is definitely designed for a younger audience, perhaps older people didn't connect with Evan the way a younger person can. I don't know Ben but it seems he can't handle criticism very well. I get it, he was almost universally praised for this show on Broadway, so this must sting a bit.

However, from his beach house in Malibu, he will be just fine! "

I have always felt with him that he is kind of being pushed on us.  That creepy Netflix concert with that awful,shirt.  That horrible Ryan Murphy thing.  And the way he talks about himself on chat shows.  

[BwayLB]

Posted: 9/10/21 at 12:09pm

Alex Kulak2 said: "Every film or TV project led by Ben has gotten lukewarm reviews at best. Something tells me he's gonna start working with his Dad a whole lot more..."

Be great if he was cast as Boq in the Wicked movie. And do something right with his hair while he’s at it.

[Tag]

Posted: 9/10/21 at 12:23pm

This Vulture article is hilariously spot on regarding his appearance/age.  The correction at the bottom of the article is one of the best parts.

Also, Platt's disheveled, unkempt look for the media campaign of this film is really jarring.  It's like he's trying SO HARD to distance himself from what he looked like in the film.  Someone pass him a razor!

[Theatre Fan3]

Posted: 9/10/21 at 12:29pm

BwayLB said: "Alex Kulak2 said: "Every film or TV project led by Ben has gotten lukewarm reviews at best. Something tells me he's gonna start working with his Dad a whole lot more..."

Be great if he was cast as Boq in the Wicked movie. And do something right with his hair while he’s at it."

Please keep him as far away from the Wicked movie as possible.  I'd say it's time to take a break from Ben Platt ... I think we've more than enough of him for the time being!!

 

[jlindsey865]

Posted: 9/10/21 at 12:35pm

I totally agree with those posters who wish the OBC would have been pro shot. I actually think it would have been fairly successful upon its release. Would it have received the same success as Hamilton when it was released on Disney+? Probably not, but I do think it would have found moderate success. It would have also immortalized Ben’s fantastic performance in the stage production.

I am not all surprised by these reviews. The film adaptation has felt very weird from the moment the first glimpses were released.

I’ll be interested to see the film in its entirety and form a complete opinion then.

I will say that I find Ben Platt very talented as a stage performer. I have not cared for him in any other realm (film/tv/talk show appearances). It’s a reminder that being a talented stage actor doesn’t not guarantee that one will be a great film or TV actor.

[DEHFanatic]

Posted: 9/10/21 at 12:38pm

Tag said: "This Vulture article is hilariously spot on regarding his appearance/age. The correction at the bottom of the article is one of thebest parts.

Also, Platt's disheveled, unkempt look for the media campaign of this film is really jarring. It's like he's trying SO HARD to distance himself from what he looked like in the film. Someone pass him a razor!"

I have been really frustrated with the whole marketing campaign - or lack thereof. I thought the trailer was mazing but it's been mostly downhill from there. Most of the commercials have very similar content with either parts of "Waving" or "YWBF" and I don't think they do an effective job at all. I'm really hoping for some new commercials in the next 2 weeks.

And your point about Ben's unkempt look is so spot on, and jarring is the perfect word to describe it. He's trying to promote a movie he's in where he plays a teenager, but in all his appearances he looks much older than his age of 27 and just a total mess.

[gregnyc2]

Posted: 9/10/21 at 12:39pm

Tag said: "This Vulture article is hilariously spot on regarding his appearance/age. The correction at the bottom of the article is one of thebest parts.

Also, Platt's disheveled, unkempt look for the media campaign of this film is really jarring. It's like he's trying SO HARD to distance himself from what he looked like in the film. Someone pass him a razor!"

OMG that Vulture article!