THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS THOUGH I DO MY BEST TO NOT INCLUDE ANY, BUT KEEP IN MIND IF YOU HAVEN’T YET WATCHED THE MOVIE.
Summery: Evan Hansen, a young man beset by social-anxiety disorder, is ordered by his therapist to write self-addressed motivational letters to himself in order to improve his disposition and communication skills. After one of these missives is stolen by a classmate who subsequently takes his own life, the deceased’s parents believe it to be a genuine note intended for Evan, who ingratiates himself with the family. As this relationship deepens, he begins to truly understand what it means to belong.
Title: Dear Evan Hansen
Rating: 12A
Runtime: 2 Minutes 17 Minutes
Cast: Ben Platt, Julianne Moore, Kaitlyn Denver, Amy Adams, Danny Pino,Amanda Stenberg, Colton Ryan and Nick Dodani
Director: Stephen Chbosky
Writers: Justin Paul, Benji Pasek & Steven Levenson
Review:
Okay so I didn’t know what to think of this movie musical adaptation, I’d heard mixed reviews so I had to watch it for myself to decide if I liked it or not. Though I’m still undecided, I liked some of it, some parts I actually liked a lot, but some not at all.
So I liked the additional songs for Alana and Connor, both were beautiful and so important to the story and to their characters. I actually think they were some of my favourite parts and I like the lead up to Connor song in that it extended the story that we don’t see in the stage production usually. They humanised Connor and found a way Evan could actually do the right thing for once.
I felt like the movie heightened a lot of the mental illness within all the characters, it felt a lot more real. I didn’t have much issue with most of the actors or the actual acting itself they worked well enough for the roles. I loved that the story within it all was extended from what we know from the stage, I did like the more additional features within it all.
I did find it hard to get used to Ben Platt as Evan due to the fact that it was so obvious he was older and so it was a little off putting, but his voice is still beautiful and I do like hearing him sing the songs, though they are on the soundtrack from broadway. I would certainly have loved seeing a different younger stage actor of Evan play the lead in this movie especially as we already had Ben’s vocals recorded from stage, but it was cast how it was so yeah.
Not all the actors could sing which wasn’t great but were they even supposed to be able to sing? I don’t know but would have been great if everyone had a great voice, or I feel that way personally. I did hate that some of the songs had been cut out. Some vital ones like Anyone Got a Map, I really missed that song not being included, but the actors they chose as the moms cannot sing so it wouldn’t have been good anyway.
So yes the movie was okay, not perfect, it had a few issues but not all big enough to go into detail on, other what I’ve mentioned. Overall I liked watching it, would I watch it again? Probably not but I am happy I saw it and could make up my own mind. I suggest if you aren’t sure yourself that you watch it and make your own mind up.
apapergirlapapertown 