{"id":23556,"date":"2021-09-23T11:27:31","date_gmt":"2021-09-23T18:27:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=23556"},"modified":"2021-09-23T11:27:31","modified_gmt":"2021-09-23T18:27:31","slug":"dear-evan-hansen-doesnt-translate-well-from-stage-to-screen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=23556","title":{"rendered":"DEAR EVAN HANSEN Doesn\u2019t Translate Well from Stage to Screen"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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This film opens exclusively in theaters on September 24th<\/sup>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we go to see a musical on the stage, we expect a bit of\nexaggeration and artifice in the presentation. The numbers are big and the cast\nact out for those in the back row of the theater, delivering the material with\na certain bombast. This kind of amplification can work in a film adaptation, depending\non the story and themes being addressed. The new musical Dear Evan Hansen<\/em>\nis a well-intentioned and earnest tale that addresses heavy subjects that include\nteenage depression and suicide. But while this tale worked onstage, its translation\nto the screen could be smoother. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Evan Hansen (Ben Platt) is a high-school student suffering\nfrom crippling social anxiety. As part of his therapy, he is told by his psychiatrist\nto pen motivational letters to himself. During one particularly bad day, Evan\ncrafts a downcast note. It\u2019s discovered and taken by another troubled loner named\nConnor Murphy (Colton Ryan). When Connor takes his own life, the letter is found\nand the community assumes that the deceased and Evan were close friends. In\norder to help Connor\u2019s sister Zoe (Kaitlyn Dever), mother (Amy Adams) and step-dad\n(Danny Pino) deal with their loss, the lead perpetuates the myth. It quickly snowballs,\nwith the outcast becoming a noted figure at school and a social media sensation.\nThe lie becomes more difficult to maintain as he becomes close to the Murphy\nfamily and issues arise in his relationship with his own mom, Heidi (Julianne\nMoore).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a stage musical, one can simply sing the facts and most\nviewers will be able to buy into the emotions and the story\u2019s themes. However, when\nperformed in the real world against an authentic school environment, questions about\nthe plot and logic quickly arise. Some of Evan\u2019s early choices seem unnatural and\nforced to get the plot moving. Many will be asking why every student is so\nquick to believe that Evan and Connor were best friends (especially given a couple\nof less-than-friendly public interactions early on)? And while mother Heidi is busy\nworking late hours, she barely seems to register the tragedy that has occurred\nat school or notice her son\u2019s growing bond with members of the Murphy family. As\nmore and more oddities are witnessed, the story strains to suspend disbelief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It\u2019s a slick-looking movie, the songs are memorable and the cast are solid as well, doing their best to make up for the plot holes by belting out tunes. Platt played the lead in the original musical and has been given a difficult task in depicting a person taking advantage of a grieving family. Obviously, the character\u2019s meek demeanor does, to a degree, help viewers keep watching and try to understand his reasoning, but it\u2019s a hard sell. And while there are some somber notes to the songs, one or two of the early numbers come across as far too bubbly. Additionally, there are a few ill-written attempts at chuckles as Evan tries to pull a friend (Nik Dodani) into his scheme. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Another minor problem is that the star now appears to be too\nold for the part of Evan. The age difference isn\u2019t a complete deal-breaker and other\nstudents have been cast older as well, but there are some moments where he\nstands out and looks far more like an adult than a teen. On a dramatic note, the\nmovie tries to make amends for its lightness earlier in the feature. Evan is\nforced to explain his actions directly to others and make up for some misguided\nactions, leading to some interesting confrontations. It results in a couple of\nheartfelt moments and songs, but they never truly resonate in a moving or\npowerful way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This film wants to deal with a lot of serious themes and\nissues, but there\u2019s a certain falseness and gloss to the presentation that it\ncan never quite overcome. Again, many of the concerns addressed here wouldn\u2019t\nhave been nearly as problematic on stage, but they\u2019re much harder to overlook\non film. The attempts of Dear Evan Hansen<\/em> to deal with suicide and depression\nin a unique manner are admirable, but this adaptation ultimately feels inauthentic\nand awkward in its execution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This film opens exclusively in theaters on September 24th. When we go to see a musical on the stage, we expect a bit of exaggeration and artifice in the presentation. The numbers are big and the cast act out for those in the back row of the theater, delivering the material with a certain bombast. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":23557,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[206,1285,2535,3574,4641,5182,5467,5468,5469,5470,6251,9154,11148,11415,14429,16176,19277,19651],"class_list":["post-23556","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-206","tag-amy-adams","tag-ben-platt","tag-broadway","tag-colton-ryan","tag-danny-pino","tag-dear-evan-hansen-film-review","tag-dear-evan-hansen-movie-review","tag-dear-evan-hanser-review","tag-dear-even-hansen","tag-drama","tag-high-school","tag-julianne-moore","tag-kaitlyn-dever","tag-musical","tag-play","tag-suicide","tag-teen"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23556","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23556"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23556\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23556"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23556"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23556"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}