Adapting musicals on their own is a claiming. Adapting a musical like Dear Evan Hansen , which relies heavily on the performances of its actors and little else, felt insurmountable. And nonetheless hither we are.

For as much as Dear Evan Hansen is touted every bit an accolade-winning musical, there are some issues that become magnified in its film version and are hard to overlook. But those who are fans of the music will likely find that this accommodation serves the textile well enough to arrive worth a scout. Others who are coming into this completely blind might have different feelings.

The story in Dear Evan Hansen is equally contrived equally they come. Evan Hansen (Ben Platt) is a high schooler that struggles with social anxiety. He sees a therapist, takes copious medications, and his mother (Julianne Moore) is constantly worrying well-nigh whether he has friends at school. At its best, Dear Evan Hansen captures the outsider's perspective in a mode rarely seen in media. Usually, the awkward teen is just ane makeover away from popularity but hither Love Evan Hansen attributes those feelings to genuine mental struggles. It's authentic and the music gets to the soul of what it means to desire to fit in.

dear evan hansen movie review

Dear Evan Hansen'due south cast is also at the acme of their game, delivering emotional performances while also belting out some truly complex musical numbers. It's like shooting fish in a barrel to see why Platt won a Tony Award for his functioning as Evan and while the remainder of the characters are played past familiar faces similar Amy Adams, Julianne Moore, and Kaitlyn Dever, they withal treat the cloth with respect. The real standout in the film, though, is Amandla Stenberg who plays Alana Beck, a character who highlights the other side of the money: a pop student who feels equally overwhelmed by the pressures and rigors of high schoolhouse.

Truly, Honey Evan Hansen's music is not bad, and its performers are exceptional; it's the narrative that buckles under the cinematic arroyo. The large conceit of the film is that Evan finds friends, romance, and a second family only under dubious circumstances. He purports to take been a close friend of Connor Murphy (Colton) and delivers comfort to the White potato family unit (Adams, Dever, and Danny Pino) past singing stories that suggest Connor didn't feel the way near them they idea he did. When it originally debuted, the musical seemed to brim the concerns about Evan'south deceit and it was disregarded by its cadre fanbase. Somehow the moving picture makes it more obvious and the narrative buckles under those criticisms.. It could exist that Ben Platt looks more like a 20-yr-old playing a teenager here (an odd hairdo is likely the biggest culprit), or simply that the picture show blows the story out into more than detail. It's less intimate and feels more than similar a movie.

Whatever the case may be, it'southward harder to get past that cardinal detail and truly enjoy Love Evan Hansen as a result. Those who know the musical have already come to grips with the material and are likely in it to hear Platt belt out some all-time tunes, but the rest will wonder what fabricated Dear Evan Hansen and then pop to begin with. To the film's credit, it doesn't completely absolve Evan of any wrongdoing similar the musical seemingly does, but that's a minor consolation. Ultimately, this is an adaptation for fans of the musical, not one to convince others why it is so swell.

Dearest Evan Hansen is in theaters now.

Our Rating:

ii out of 5 (Okay)

Amouranth Returns to Twitch Afterwards 3 Day Ban

Read Next

Nigh The Author

Anthony Taormina (5579 Articles Published)

An owner of every console since Atari, Anthony is willing to try whatsoever video game, good or bad, merely prefers the ones that involve a deep and involving story. With the Ocarina of Fourth dimension gladly sitting as his favorite game of all fourth dimension, Anthony is a sucker for any game that has players wielding a fabled sword, but can still appreciate everything from a solid sports title to a game with a deep multiplayer experience. Past eventually combining his love of video games with his skills in moving picture, Anthony hopes to make Game Bluster a fun identify to explore all facets of pop civilisation.

More From Anthony Taormina