DEAR EVAN HANSEN Movie Musical - News & Discussion Thread — Page 35

HeyMrMusic said: "Saw a sneak preview tonight. I think it would have worked better without the songs. I was uncomfortable from the start. The new song at the end was the only thing the movie did well. One thing the movie could have easily done is show the reach of social media and Evan’s rise in popularity, but that’s somehow more deftly done in the stage production. Overall, I sadly found this to be a miss. Ben Platt’s makeup for the balcony did not look good in those closeups. Oof."

You mention that it would’ve worked better without the songs, and that was absolutely one of my biggest problems with the film. Not only were the songs all shot and executed exactly the same way (character sings while a montage plays) but the songs never feel natural or earned. Part of this is because of the overly realistic and grounded tone they chose for this movie. Musicals by definition have to exist in some kind of heightened reality, but this one doesn’t so it feels off. I’m never one to ask “why are they singing” when watching a musical, but many times in this movie the transitions into songs just felt so out of place and really took me out of it. I think ultimately it’s just not a musical that translates well to film.

And totally agree that it was a missed opportunity in terms of the way they chose to represent social media’s part in the story. The scene where everyone gets a notification one their phone at the same time (they all not only don’t keep their phones on vibrate but also have the exact same notification sound too) is laughable in terms of how out of touch it seems. Could’ve done some really cool visualizations of the internet and social media but it’s just another a missed opportunity.

I saw the film tonight and enjoyed it more than the stage show. I still wouldn't say I loved it, but the changes to the script addressed many of my biggest criticisms of the show. I think fans of the musical will enjoy the film as well. I think the 1-star reviews and the hatred on twitter are a bit excessive, but then again, when has twitter ever been known to be a level-headed place for nuanced discourse?

I'm in the midwest, so I doubt we were at the same screening.

I'm not as over the moon with it as you are, but I agree with most of your sentiments. I think the online hatred has more to do with it being trendy and no critic wanting to be seen liking a film that twitter has declared bad. It's certainly no Cats. No, Ben Platt didn't look like a teenager, but neither does anyone else playing a teenager on tv or in movies. After about five minutes you forget about it and let it go. His physicality did bother me, though. Alana has a line in the new scene where Evan tells her he had no idea she struggled with depression and anxiety and she says that she keeps it well-hidden, like him. I was kind of baffled by that line because Platt's whole performance is centered around jittery, nervous gestures and keeping his eyes on the floor.

Overall, I thought Chbosky brought a lot of the same gentle touch he brought to the film of Wallflower, the main different for me is that Wallflower has, in my opinion, much better source material. This film is competently made and a faithful rendition of the story.

poisonivy2 said: "How as Julianne Moore as Heidi?"

I agree with what's been said before--the cuts make her really absent in the first half, but she delivers in the big moment. "So Big/So Small" was simple, honest, and lovely, exactly as it should be.

I'm glad I'm hearing reports that Moore is doing a very good job despite her role getting reduced, her and Kaitlyn Dever's vocal performances were the only things I was concerned about music wise. But it seems the two of them are doing a really good job alongside the other side characters.

It's nice to see some positive notices on here in comparison to the critics trashing from TIFF. Despite all that I'm still looking forward to seeing it, not my favorite musical of all time, but I can understand why other people like/love it at least.

Can I just say something as someone who has critiqued the hell out of this property openly in this forum,

There is without question Ben Platt and Rachel Bay Jones gave two of the greatest live performances I've ever seen on broadway. But I'm also convinced their humanity and empathy in their performance would've made me go along with any stupid plot they were acting out. And the score is memorable! There are some really solid tunes.

When I've said the premise is icky and tone deaf and angering, part of what that comes from is as a person who has experienced multiple familial loss- I and am sure many others, truly cannot bear to watch Evan lie to the family. Cause the grieving they are going through is so intense and traumatic and spiraling and complicated, and he throws such a specific waste of time wrench into that long arduous often brain changing process and he's the one we have to follow the whole damn time and empathize with? It's the fact that he is ultimately belaboring the grieving process for an entire family and the writers are really keen for us to see HIS side of it.

If the story was centered on Alana or Zoe or people who were caught in the storm of Evan's lie and activism and the commentary of how he explodes this and we see SOME of his perspective but not as the primary I think it would've been more compelling and the themes about performative social media activism could've been stronger. But the show is begging us to understand Evan front and center.

When you suffer a loss in the family, you become aware of how flippantly writers in media throw around familial death in their writing for contrived reasons and a lot of it you bare with because you know they kill off a parent for story reasons so the kid is isolated, or so the ensemble of characters is paired down or as we mock in Disney, the obligatory mom killed off.

This though to me is the most egregious contrived thoughtless writing about grieving a familial loss I have ever seen. And part of it is Pasek and Paul walk away feeling confident with this "heartwarming, you will be found" show where they lightly dabble in "deep" moral greys and the Murphys who've endured hideous emotional manipulation are the ones who actually lose the most.

Updated On: 9/16/21 at 10:38 AM

rattleNwoolypenguin said: "Can I just say something as someone who has critiqued the hell out of this property openly in this forum,

There is without question Ben Platt and Rachel Bay Jones gave two of the greatest live performances I've ever seen on broadway. But I'm also convinced their humanity and empathy in their performance would've made me go along with any stupid plot they were acting out. And the score is memorable! There are some really solid tunes.

When I've said the premise is icky and tone deaf and angering, part of what that comes from is as a person who has experienced multiple familial loss- I and am sure many others, truly cannot bear to watch Evan lie to the family. Cause the grieving they are going through is so intense and traumatic and spiraling and complicated, and he throws such a specific waste of time wrench into that long arduous often brain changing process and he's the one we have to follow the whole damn time and empathize with? It's the fact that he is ultimately belaboring the grieving process for an entire family and the writers are really keen for us to see HIS side of it.

If the story was centered on Alana or Zoe or people who were caught in the storm of Evan's lie and activism and the commentary of how he explodes this and we see SOME of his perspective but not as the primary I think it would've been more compelling and the themes about performative social media activism could've been stronger. But the show is begging us to understand Evan front and center.

When you suffer a loss in the family, you become aware of how flippantly writers in media throw aroundfamilial death in their writing for contrived reasons and a lot of it you bare with because you know they kill off a parent for story reasons so the kid is isolated, or so the ensemble of characters is paired down or as we mock in Disney, the obligatory mom killed off.

This though to me is the most egregious contrived thoughtless writing about grieving a familial loss I have ever seen. And part of it is Pasek and Paul walk away feeling confident with this "heartwarming, you will be found" show where they lightly dabble in "deep" moral greys and the Murphys who've endured hideous emotional manipulation are the ones who actually lose the most.



"

I agree so much with this... lol I know my previous review makes it sound like I liked the film, but I mostly liked how it was better than the musical T_T. Still think the source material itself, no matter how its presented, is quite poor (but if we're being forced to present it... it works better on screen). From the Arena production, to Broadway, to the movie, there are moments of insight from specifically Zoe and Alana that make you really wish the story was from multiple perspectives about how a community and a family grieves a loss, not just how Evan deals with it.

Updated On: 9/16/21 at 10:53 AM

I'm not saying it's up to me.

I'm saying the storyteller has a responsibility to get their audience to understand and hear out their perspective.

To me and many many others, they ultimately failed and worse they angered their audience.

You can like it and I'm happy you do. A lot of people do.

But when I say this story is infuriating as someone who's experienced family death to see it so flippantly explored in a surface level contrived way that's entirely valid even if you personally do not agree.

Parade is a musical that deals with an incredibly disturbing subject matter but it succeeds in that it's never telling me what to believe. It's just showing me the circumstances of an awful situation. It's never trying to get you to SIDE with Leo, but you see Leo's side as well as everyone's. It lets you live in the grey.

Rattle I'm not sure if you saw the movie but

edit: idk if my spoiler was working but I'll repost text here. DON'T READ IF YOU DON'T WANT MOVIE SPOILERS (sorry this is sooo messy rip..)

in this version he publicly admits on instagram that he lied, which is a HUGE revision to the play. Granted, 50% of the film is not dedicated to him dealing with the fall out, it's maybe more like.... 5% of the plot toward the end. Of course, I too would have liked to see what a more nuanced and fleshed out aftermath would have looked like. The movie tries to address his attempts at harm reduction after his reveal but it is pretty rushed. In the film's world I'm SURE he's getting flamed to hell online but we don't get that social media notification flurry of a montage lmfaoooo

Updated On: 9/16/21 at 12:21 PM