“Dear Evan Hansen” Film Review

MV5BYTI0NzBiMzMtYTc4MS00ZGNhLTljYTEtYjQ1ZTMzNjhkOWY5XkEyXkFqcGdeQWRvb2xpbmhk._V1_.jpg — 80/100 “sweet”

Dear Quinn Marcus,

These past 24 hours have been extremely bizarre, and here’s why: The episode of Ted Lasso I watched last night rickrolled me THREE times, I'm not kidding, I didn't see that coming. Bradley Cooper got the big "wow!" moment in an Owen Wilson film which feels a little unholy, to be honest. I woke up this morning with a major ache in my neck, and…I can sense you probably want me to get on with the review. However, the final weird thing that happened today was this film, if you can believe it. It’s become increasingly difficult to find a generally positive review from a critic about Dear Evan Hansen, it’s been getting so much hate lately, so naturally, I was genuinely curious to form my own opinion about the film, one of my most anticipated of the year, and while it is flawed, I still find most of the film’s undeserved criticisms to be pretty childish.

Based upon the hit Broadway musical of the same name, Dear Evan Hansen tells the story of socially awkward senior, Evan Hansen, who unintentionally gets dragged into a string of lies involving two parents confusing Evan’s personal therapy letter for their son’s suicide note.

Let’s start with the biggest one of all, and work our way down, shall we, Ben Platt is being bombed by virtually every critic, and many audience members who have seen it because apparently, he’s too old for the role of a high school senior at age 27, but I thought his acting really worked here. It’s absurd, the level of heat Platt is taking for his age, this idea of needing to literally be the character you’re playing is ridiculous, Ben Platt is remarkable in this film, over-the-top at times, but his voice and most of his acting got to me completely, and made me care about the lead character even more. In regards to those calling it “manipulative,” yes, I’ll admit it, I cried FOUR TIMES, let me rephrase that, I SOBBED four times, but I can honestly say it largely wasn’t because of manipulation, rather, this was one of the most heart-wrenching, beautifully human experiences I’ve had in a theater. Evan’s redemption arc was affectionately told, and above all, felt earned.

Conceptually, this film is almost made for polarization, but I couldn’t help but fall in love with how sincere and heartfelt it was, gradually bringing me closer and closer to its beating heart, a tender, if slightly overblown gaze upon loneliness, teen depression, and anxiety. In its greatest moments, Dear Evan Hansen is quite nearly masterful, Stephen Chbosky has crafted one of the least flashy, more drama-focused musicals I’ve seen, and overall, I really enjoyed it. Granted, I haven’t seen the broadway show, so I can’t compare the two, but I kind of dug how lowkey and down to Earth Dear Evan Hansen felt, it’s more of a straightforward emotional rollercoaster that tugs at the heartstrings during practically every scene, a somewhat messy albeit delicate balance of complex story elements that, in the wrong hands, could have been offensive as so many describe it to be. Evan’s deception isn’t disgraceful or horrific, he wants to give a gift to this family who just lost a son, it obviously backfires, but I found that there was just enough conflict between the characters to keep it from becoming too morally iffy.

Now, about the music from the songwriter’s of The Greatest Showman and La La Land, holy crap, each song is nearly flawless and done so well, the standouts being the vividly beautiful “For Forever,” the hilarious “Sincerely, Me,” and the powerhouse of the whole thing “You Will Be Found.” Although, I did find that the opener of the film, “Waving Through a Window” to be pretty disappointing from an editing and emotional standpoint. “Anonymous Ones,” a new addition to the show highlight’s the clear talent of Amandla Stenberg, and “A Little Closer,” sung by Colton Ryan makes for a surprisingly effective reveal that hit me pretty hard. Heck, even Julianne Moore gets a poignant song about motherhood that she absolutely rocked. The entire supporting cast is great, Amy Adams and Kaitlyn Dever give especially good performances and had solid chemistry with Platt.

There are these really cool visual callbacks to this forest scene interlaced into the film that enhanced Dear Evan Hansen from a cinematography aspect, yes, it’s not the best-looking movie of all time, but it doesn’t need to be, none of Chbosky’s film’s have been visually astounding, they’re all very character-focused. Okay, as for the issues, nearly everything about Dear Evan Hansen falters a little bit at some point, mainly Chbosky’s uncertain directing. I believe he was the right director for the job, all of his films have been adaptations and touch upon similar issues, but you could tell that the musical genre was a challenge for him. Several scenes occasionally collapsed into melodrama, as each character continuously belts their heart’s out through song, pointing out bits that felt a tad artificial. Also, compared to Chbosky’s absolute masterpiece that is The Perks of Being a Wallflower, the film can seem a little too clean at points, perhaps because he didn’t write the script like he usually does, but I didn’t despise anything about Dear Evan Hansen, or at least, it’s not the monstrous crime against humanity as some claim it to be, I’d recommend seeing it and if you like it, please support it, okay, I’m finished.

Sincerely, me.