About the film (courtesy of Universal Pictures):
The breathtaking, generation-defining Broadway phenomenon becomes a soaring cinematic event as Tony, Grammy and Emmy Award winner Ben Platt reprises his role as an anxious, isolated high schooler aching for understanding and belonging amid the chaos and cruelty of the social-media age.
The disclaimer that I must make prior to sharing my thoughts on the film, Dear Evan Hansen, is that have never seen, nor was I familiar with the Broadway play. So, I cannot make comparisons and these views are strictly based on what I recently saw.
Dear Evan Hansen is different from most musical movies in that there is much more dialogue that many of its predecessors. The story plays out a slower pace than I had hoped which makes its extended runtime of almost 140 minutes feel grueling at times. Ben Platt brings an emotional edge to his character that makes you buy-in, at least for a while. His acting is solid as is his singing. The Pitch Perfect alum doesn’t miss a beat when it comes to hitting his notes.
Amy Adams, Julianne Moore, Danny Pino and Kaitlyn Dever are all very good in their respective roles from the family perspective. On the close friend front, Amandla Stenberg and Nik Dodani nail it as supportive friends throughout this emotional roller coaster ride of discovery and coping.
Despite all of his best intentions, Stephen Chbosky’s direction of Dear Evan Hansen becomes muddled and bland. There are moments of brilliance and brief surges of emotional outpouring, while at other times you’ll be bored out of your mind and wanting this to just be over with. And it’s in those times where you start to see Evan Hansen (Ben Platt) as a manipulative, attention-seeking jerk. The pendulum might have swung too far to the left.
Dear Evan Hansen is a somber story that will bring awareness to mental health issues and suicide. Musical lovers will mostly likely come away slightly underwhelmed. The overall feel and enjoyment factor are just not to a high enough quality level for me to recommend going out of your way or paying premium prices to see this one. You can catch the Tony-Award winning musical turned feature film in theaters right now.
