If your “For You” Page is anywhere near movie or musical theatre TikTok, I’m sure you’ve seen the many videos criticizing the new Dear Evan Hansen movie. From the casting to the acting, it appears everyone has at least one issue with the production. When I saw the movie, I went in hoping for the best but expecting the worst. Imagine my surprise when I thoroughly enjoyed the movie!
Let’s be clear: I’m no stranger to Dear Evan Hansen. I have vivid memories of laying in bed listening to the Broadway cast recording the day it was released (I was home sick with the flu, what great timing!), watching whatever videos I could find of the Broadway production and even seeing it on tour at the Dr. Phillips Center in Orlando in 2019. Since I’m a little bit of a theatre kid (I like to call myself retired), it’s pretty much mandatory to be an expert in all hit Broadway musicals. Going into that movie theater, I had lowered expectations. It’s pretty rare for a Broadway show to transfer perfectly to the screen, even modern ones. Dear Evan Hansen wasn’t an exception, but it wasn’t as bad as some people preach in the TikTok comment section.
Let’s start with the obvious casting issue: Ben Platt. Ben Platt’s an amazing stage singer and actor, which goes without saying. Just listening to him singing “Words Fail” on the Broadway cast recording is enough to bring me to tears. But I’m not going to lie; he looks a little different today than he did when Dear Evan Hansen opened on Broadway in 2016. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not age-shaming. But to say that he, as a 26-year-old, can still pass for a 17-year-old is an entirely different story. Standing next to his younger co-stars Kaitlyn Dever (Zoe Murphy) and Amandla Stenberg (Alana Beck), he looked a little older than the casting directors intended. But I was able to overlook those cringe moments once Platt started singing, which is one of the redeeming features of the movie. Not to mention almost all of the singing was done live on set, which speaks volumes to his vocal talents! Acting-wise, Platt is clearly meant for the stage. There were many moments (especially in “Words Fail” and “If I Could Tell Her”) that I wished I was watching him from a Broadway stage instead of a movie screen because it was clear that his strength lies in live performance. But in IMAX and on a roughly 50 feet wide movie screen, some of his choices leaned towards looking a little satirical or even comical. Many critics and even audience members think Platt got the job because his father produced the film, which I’m honestly not going to rule out as a possibility.
Moving on to the film itself, the reason Dear Evan Hansen was such an impactful musical was that it tackled mental health in teenagers, and the movie is no different. With a new song, “The Anonymous Ones,” the movie does a pretty good job of portraying depression and anxiety and how it can affect everyone, even the ones who appear happy on the surface. Evan Hansen’s twitchy movements might seem like they create a caricature of anxiety, but anxiety can manifest in many different ways and severities, and I honestly appreciate Platt for his portrayal of social anxiety, even if he took it a little too far sometimes. Even though the effect of the musical is not quite the same as the stage show, if you give it a chance, it has the power to remind you to pay attention to the well-being of everyone around you, even the ones who appear to be “okay.”
If you can’t already tell, I’m definitely not a movie critic. I never took a film class in high school or college, and I’m not one to analyze every single movie I watch. If you’re looking for a movie to watch to enjoy and enter a new world (and maybe find some new show tunes to belt in the shower), I would suggest Dear Evan Hansen. If you can’t help but summon your inner film critic every time you watch a movie, maybe stay away from this one.