Dear Evan Hansen movie

We started talking about this in the Shang Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings thread, but this deserves its own thread.

I saw it last night with my wife, and it was...not to fine a point on it... terrible.

The two main problems are that the star is 27 years old, and looks every day of it. And the songs are that meandering "it qualifies as a song because each word is sung at a different pitch" thing that has apparently infested Broadway, where the character just keeps singing, and singing, until they eventually rhyme a word. And the only tool to convey intensity is to keep repeating the same short phrase.

The same pair wrote La La Land and The Greatest Showman, neither of which had a memorable melody between them.

The sad part is that I genuinely love musicals, and I'm constantly looking for good ones.

I fear I become that grumpy old guy, complaining about these damn kids on his lawn, but I know that it is possible write great tunes for musicals. The film Anna and the Apocalypse had a wonderful set of songs, like this one that introduces the characters, and their relationships. It's a great pop tune, and it actually rhymes:

 

Agree about Anna and the Apocalypse.

 

We saw it on Broadway in 2016 and it was pretty damned incredible. Ben Platt was 22 at the time and there was no problem believing he was a teenager. Thought the songs and staging (which cannot be captured on film, you kind of had to be there) were spot on, and the end of the first act was spellbinding. One of the best musicals in recent memory.
Had a feeling it wouldn't translate to screen very well. Too bad.

 

Your mileage may well vary. We really didn't like the songs, but then we didn't like the other two musicals this pair wrote.

 

Very true. Although neither of us liked the other two they wrote either. Thought La La Land especially was horrifically bad.

 

Not even the combined charisma of Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone could save that.

I found myself getting cynical about the plight of the lead character (which was of his own making.) And I'm not normally a cynic - I'm a notoriously soft touch emotionally, and this actor just couldn't convince me to care.

 

I'd blame the Director. And what the hell did they do to Ben Platt's hair?
I am a cynic and Platt had me convinced right from the start. He's desperate in a number of ways and while you can't excuse what he does, it's certainly understandable, especially for a teenager.

 

You mean he had you convinced on stage, not in the movie, right?

You've not seen the movie, correct?

 

Yes, on stage, sorry for the poorly worded post.
Haven't seen the movie although I plan to.

 

Please report back when you do! Really curious to get the comparison perspective!

 

I am interested in your take on it as well. I just listened to the Filmweek podcast, and unlike me they actually liked the songs. They objected to his acting style, which was very stagy and seemed out of place with highly skilled film actors like Amy Adams and Julianne Moore.

 

I haven't understood the direction Broadway music went ever since Up Against It flopped and the critics hated Todd Rundgren's music for it - included some of the finest songs he's ever written:

 

Interesting article here about the collapse of the movie at the box office.
Amazing how something that made $226 million on Broadway could flop so badly.
‘Dear Evan Hansen’ Bombs At The Box Office: Here’s Why – Deadline

 

Have you seen the film yet @ralphb? It's still in theaters, so obviously not everyone agrees with me (it won't be the first or last time this happens.)

 

Not yet. I think we've decided to wait and stream it at one point, the reviews haven't been encouraging and I just can't get past that hairdo they gave Ben Platt.