12A, 2hrs 17 mins
Much of the commentary surrounding the release of the film adaptation of Broadway musical Dear Evan Hansen, has centred on its star Ben Platt, and whether he should have been cast in the role he originated seeing as he is now 28 years old. But frankly, the age of its leading cast is just one of many problems this adaptation faces. It's clear that the film is attempting to provide audiences with an enlightening coming of age story about the struggles of today's teenagers, and generate insightful conversations about mental health issues, but majorly misses the mark and comes across as shallow and performative.
Centered on the titular Evan Hansen (Platt), an anxious and depressed teenager who struggles to make friends, the film follows as Evan gets caught in a lie about his relationship with a fellow student who has recently committed suicide. After a note Evan wrote addressed to himself is found in the possession of Connor Murphy (Colton Ryan), Connor's family wrongly assume that he and Evan were close, and instead of immediately telling them the truth, Evan fabricates an elaborate story about their friendship in a misguided attempt to console the grieving family, and win favour from Connor's sister Zoe (Kaitlyn Dever) who he has a crush on.
Undoubtedly, the best thing about the film is the songs within it. 'Sincerely Me', 'Requiem' and 'You Will Be Found' are wonderful, moving numbers which should be enjoyed, but a few good musical performances can't help the film as a whole. Amy Adams (Cynthia) , Danny Pino (Larry) and Kaitlyn Dever (Zoe) turn in utterly stunning performances as the Murphy family, showcasing the broad spectrum of grief experienced by a family affected by suicide, mental health and addiction issues. Ben Platt's performance is admirable but, as I will delve into in more depth below, ultimately distracting and not as impactful as you would want from the story's protagonist.
There was scope within the narrative for the film to delve into a critical exploration of the performative level of grief with often accompanies tragedies such as these but, for some inexplicable reason, the plot shies away from this. Connor's family emphasise how lonely and isolated their son felt, and yet no-one bothers to address the hypocrisy of the outpouring of grief his classmates and total strangers express online following his death. For a film which so strongly emphasizes the impact of social media on today's teenagers, this would have been a worthy and interesting path for the narrative to take, but ultimately decides against it.
One of the main problems the film faces is its insistence on trying to make a hero out of its main character, when in fact Evan Hansen is probably one of the best examples of an antihero in musical theatre. In its concluding 15 minutes the film does everything it possibly can to convince you that Evan's actions are justifiable. It emphasizes how Evan's lack of a relationship with his father affected him, how he clung to the Murphys because they provided him with the family dynamic he always craved, before finally, and crucially, spelling out to the audience that the apparent fall Evan had had the previous summer was actually a deliberate attempt to harm himself. And yet, by the end I still couldn't reconcile the horrible lies and manipulation the character inflicted on a grieving family, and how he gets away with little to no repercussions, save for the fact he is once again ostracised by his fellow classmates. Which, in the grand scheme of things, only leaves him back where he started, and is an awfully small price to pay for all of the damage caused.
I can't talk about the film and not address its main controversy, the casting of Ben Platt. Initially, I didn't take issue with Platt getting the role, as he had originated it on Broadway and because I had seen him play a teenager on screen both convincingly and effectively as recently as last year in Netflix's The Politician. Older actors play teenagers all the time in film and on TV so it shouldn't have been a major issue. But it what must be one of the worst instances of makeup and hairstyling I think I've ever seen on screen, Platt somehow manages to look even older than his actual age, and alongside the rest of the principle actors playing teens (all of whom are in their early 20s), he looks alarmingly like an undercover cop trying to blend in at a high school. I was so focused on the fact that this was someone so clearly in their late 20s playing a 17 year old that it prevented me from getting fully lost in the narrative of the film and was overwhelmingly distracting.
My main issue with Platt's casting though has come from the narrative which has emerged from the director and producers of the film (one of which, Marc Platt, is Ben Platt's father). In much of the press covereage which proceeded the film's release director Stephen Chbosky made it known on numerous occasions that there was simply no-one else who could play Evan Hansen, and that the role 'belonged' to Ben Platt. While there is no doubt that Platt is incredibly talented, and I would go as far as to say he has one of the best voices I've ever heard, to say that he is the only actor who can effectively play Evan Hansen is incredibly insulting to all of the actors who have, and will continue to play the character on the Broadway and West End stage (one of whom is Platt's boyfriend, Noah Galvin).
Yes, the role is a demanding one, but it has been played to great success and acclaim by younger actors like Andrew Barth Feldman and Roman Banks since Platt left the Broadway production, both of whom also have screen credits and would've been far more affective in the film adaptation. Should Ben Platt have been able to audition for the role? Yes. But did he deserve to be cast simply because he played the role on Broadway first? No, and the fact that that is a luxury not afforded to anyone else from the original Broadway cast, (Platt is the only original cast member in the film), or other film adaptations of musicals, speaks to nepotistic nature of Hollywood. If it were the case that all Broadway actors deserved to play their character in any screen adaptation it would be the done thing, but it is not. On the rare occasions musical theatre performers are invited to audition to reprise their roles, they very rarely secure them. There comes a time when fans and production teams need to accept that actors grow out of roles, and the instance on putting Platt in the film despite him looking so noticeably older than the character he is playing , for me speaks more to the fact his father produced the film than his undeniable talent.
It is not that there is no-one else who could play this role, the continuation of the musical on Broadway and in the West End since Platt has left the production is a testament to this, it is that none of these other actors have the luxury of having a major Hollywood producer as a father.
One of the overwhelming takeaways I have from the film is that I think it would've worked better as a pro-shot. As we have seen more prominently in the last couple of years, some musicals are better suited for the stage than the screen, and in order to make that stage experience available for a larger number of people, pro shots like Hamilton and Come From Away have become more readily available. Watching Dear Evan Hansen in the cinema made me regret not just waiting to see it on the stage, where I feel its impact could be felt more affectively.
In my opinion the film is by far the weakest of all of the musical adaptations we have seen so far this year, and unless you are already an avid fan of the musical I wouldn't be quick to recommend you go and see it. Instead, I'd tell you to just go and listen to the cast album and enjoy the truly amazing music and maybe go and see it on the stage if you get the chance. As far as the film's awards chances are concerned, I wouldn't be surpassed to see it feature heavily in the Golden Globes Best Musical or Comedy categories but is unlikely to progress much further into awards season after that.
Dear Evan Hansen is available in cinemas now.
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