DEAR EVAN HANSEN
****
Director: Stephen Chbosky
Screenwriter: Steven Levenson, based on his book for the eponymous musical stage play, with music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul.
Principal cast:
Ben Platt
Julianne Moore
Kaitlyn Dever
Amy Adams
Amandla Stenberg
Colton Ryan
Country: USA
Classification: M
Runtime: 137 mins.
Australian release date: 9 December 2021.
Dear Evan Hansen began life as a work of musical theatre, making its debut in Washington DC in 2015, and subsequently going on to win six Tony Awards in 2017, including Best Musical, Best Actor and Best Featured Actress. Now, thanks to director Stephen Chbosky, the rest of the world can see a made-for-cinema version of Dear Evan Hansen and judge the musical for themselves. Based on the director’s two previous efforts, The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Wonder, you can see why this project would appeal to him – they all deal with young people coming of age by encountering, and overcoming, the obstacles they are faced with in life. High-school student Evan Hansen has his own set of problems to cope with and they just keep getting bigger and bigger.
The lead role is played by Ben Platt, reprising the part he played on Broadway. Evan is a lonely boy who suffers from an unspecified anxiety syndrome and lives with his hardworking, single mother, Heidi (Julianne Moore). His analyst suggests that he write encouraging letters to himself, explaining why each day is going to be a good day. When one of these letters is found by another friendless, troubled kid, Connor Murphy (Colton Ryan, playing the role for which he understudied in the musical), Evan freaks out because he has a secret crush on Connor’s sister, Zoe (Kaitlyn Dever), and he’s worried he’ll be exposed. Worse is to happen, however, and a few days later Connor commits suicide with Evan’s letter in his pocket, which his mother (Amy Adams) and step-father (Danny Pino) take to be from Connor to Evan. They are ecstatic to think that their lonely, distant son had at least one close friend and Evan, pleased to be accepted by them and happy to be near Zoe, goes along with the façade. As so often happens, though, the lie keeps getting bigger and Evan has to create a fake social media background to support his soi-disant friendship with Connor, which takes him into deeper and deeper water.
Dear Evan Hansen is a clever adaptation of the musical; the move from stage to film has necessitated some alterations to the book but the work’s original author, Steven Levenson, has written the screenplay so one imagines that any changes are in keeping with his vision for the story. Four songs were dropped, too, and a couple of others added, with the collaboration of the musical’s songwriters, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, and they’re all terrific, old and new. Platt has a supremely beautiful voice and, if he can be faulted, it’s not for his vocal abilities – it’s just that, at the age of 26 when the movie was shot, he looks a bit too old for the part. While he does a good job of acting young, Evan is 17-years-old and Platt stopped playing him in the musical back in 2017. It’s a minor quibble, however, and his convincing performance soon allays any concern. The rest of the cast, too, are excellent and in fine vocal form; we knew that Amy Adams and Julianne Moore could sing but who knew that Kaitlyn Dever and Amandla Stenberg had such charming voices?
I’m not sure if or when Dear Evan Hansen, the musical, will ever grace our southern shores but, in the meantime, Dear Evan Hansen, the film, is a fine substitute and with Ben Platt as lead, it’s almost as good as being on Broadway. Be warned, though, this is not light-and-fluffy, song-and-dance material – it deals with some pretty serious issues, albeit in a thoroughly engaging way.
Screenwriter: Steven Levenson, based on his book for the eponymous musical stage play, with music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul.
Principal cast:
Ben Platt
Julianne Moore
Kaitlyn Dever
Amy Adams
Amandla Stenberg
Colton Ryan
Country: USA
Classification: M
Runtime: 137 mins.
Australian release date: 9 December 2021.
Dear Evan Hansen began life as a work of musical theatre, making its debut in Washington DC in 2015, and subsequently going on to win six Tony Awards in 2017, including Best Musical, Best Actor and Best Featured Actress. Now, thanks to director Stephen Chbosky, the rest of the world can see a made-for-cinema version of Dear Evan Hansen and judge the musical for themselves. Based on the director’s two previous efforts, The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Wonder, you can see why this project would appeal to him – they all deal with young people coming of age by encountering, and overcoming, the obstacles they are faced with in life. High-school student Evan Hansen has his own set of problems to cope with and they just keep getting bigger and bigger.
The lead role is played by Ben Platt, reprising the part he played on Broadway. Evan is a lonely boy who suffers from an unspecified anxiety syndrome and lives with his hardworking, single mother, Heidi (Julianne Moore). His analyst suggests that he write encouraging letters to himself, explaining why each day is going to be a good day. When one of these letters is found by another friendless, troubled kid, Connor Murphy (Colton Ryan, playing the role for which he understudied in the musical), Evan freaks out because he has a secret crush on Connor’s sister, Zoe (Kaitlyn Dever), and he’s worried he’ll be exposed. Worse is to happen, however, and a few days later Connor commits suicide with Evan’s letter in his pocket, which his mother (Amy Adams) and step-father (Danny Pino) take to be from Connor to Evan. They are ecstatic to think that their lonely, distant son had at least one close friend and Evan, pleased to be accepted by them and happy to be near Zoe, goes along with the façade. As so often happens, though, the lie keeps getting bigger and Evan has to create a fake social media background to support his soi-disant friendship with Connor, which takes him into deeper and deeper water.
Dear Evan Hansen is a clever adaptation of the musical; the move from stage to film has necessitated some alterations to the book but the work’s original author, Steven Levenson, has written the screenplay so one imagines that any changes are in keeping with his vision for the story. Four songs were dropped, too, and a couple of others added, with the collaboration of the musical’s songwriters, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, and they’re all terrific, old and new. Platt has a supremely beautiful voice and, if he can be faulted, it’s not for his vocal abilities – it’s just that, at the age of 26 when the movie was shot, he looks a bit too old for the part. While he does a good job of acting young, Evan is 17-years-old and Platt stopped playing him in the musical back in 2017. It’s a minor quibble, however, and his convincing performance soon allays any concern. The rest of the cast, too, are excellent and in fine vocal form; we knew that Amy Adams and Julianne Moore could sing but who knew that Kaitlyn Dever and Amandla Stenberg had such charming voices?
I’m not sure if or when Dear Evan Hansen, the musical, will ever grace our southern shores but, in the meantime, Dear Evan Hansen, the film, is a fine substitute and with Ben Platt as lead, it’s almost as good as being on Broadway. Be warned, though, this is not light-and-fluffy, song-and-dance material – it deals with some pretty serious issues, albeit in a thoroughly engaging way.