Dear Evan Hansen is a story that I have a hard time appreciating. It's convoluted and requires a great deal of suspension of disbelief in terms of the coincidences along the way. It offers the chicken-soup-for-the-soul sorts of "insights" into human connection which feel phoney and disingenuous. And the songs are light non-offensive pop songs which are so blandly vanilla that they start to ache with saccharine insincerity.
But I imagine even for fans of the hit musical this film will be a disappointment. Perhaps it the sort of story that doesn't translate well to the screen. Honestly I don't believe in such things. Some stories might be harder to effectively tell as a movie but I think anything can work as a movie if you find the right way. But the choices here seem strange. Everything from casting Platt in the opposite of old age makeup (which looks as awkward as the old age makeup most films use) to the lack of chemistry between any of the characters. Everything about the film feels like misfire.
But for me it's so much more than that. I have so many problems with the story of Evan Hansen and the way it commodifies trauma. Its reliance on easy outs to difficult questions so that we can revel in what is essentially "inspiration porn" keep frustrating me. I find the entire exercise simply crafted to illicit emotion without earning it. I rolled my eyes instead of crying like I'm supposed to.
And I got sad seeing such a great cast from Adams to Moore to Dever to Stenberg all suffering through this. I guess people who are fans of the show may enjoy this as a filmed version but for the rest of us we should skip it.
Dear Evan Hansen
Starring: Ben Platt, Amy Adams, Julianne Moore, Kaitlyn Dever, Amandla Stenberg, Danny Pino, Colton Ryan, Nik Dodani
Director: Stephen Chbosky
Writer: Steven Levenson
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