306. Dear Evan Hansen; movie review

DEAR EVAN HANSEN

Cert 12A

137 mins

BBFC advice: Contains mental health theme, suicide references, sex and drug references, language

How many times have we all been hopelessly tongue-tied in front of the opposite sex?

I am amazed I found the love of my life and married Mrs W because previous to meeting her, I was pathetic.

For example, after two years of distant admiration of a girl at school, I plucked up the courage to speak to her on the bus home. She kindly replied but I literally couldn't get the second sentence out.

From then on, I feared being alone for the rest of my life - managing, only to ask the future Mrs W out when I was fortified by several pints of beer.

Thankfully, my schoolboy angst was not as dramatic as that of Evan Hansen (Ben Platt) during Stephen Chbosky's coming-of-age musical.

Evan is a loner who avoids interaction at school but has a crush on a classmate, Zoe (Kaitlyn Dever), who he considers unreachable.

However, via an initially unintended lie, he finds a way into her life after her brother (Colton Ryan) tragically loses his life.

The trouble is the closer they get, the bigger the lie becomes and the more likely it will lead to a potential train-crash moment.

Dear Evan Hansen is adapted from a stage musical and those songs are incorporated into the film, adding poignancy to the lead character's plight.

So, did it work? Well, it is certainly memorable - the plotline is original and would have been effective if he had not have been set to music.

It will strike a chord with the many of us who struggled to find our place during our teenage years.

And aside of impressive central performances, there are fine supporting roles from Julianne Moore, Amy Adams and Danny Pino.

The reason I haven't marked it higher is down to it going over the same tightrope over and over - to the extent that Mrs W and I were wanting to scream at the screen - "Evan haven't you learned anything?"

But I guess if the desperate don't want to see the error of their ways...

Reasons to watch: Original and decent songs

Reasons to avoid: Some car-crash moments

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: Yes

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 7/10

Did you know? Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, the lyricists behind "La La Land," penned the music and lyrics for "Dear Evan Hansen." The two shared an Academy Award for best song with Justin Hurwitz for "City of Stars" from "La La Land."

The final word. Stephen Chbosky: "He twisted himself into knots, in some cases literally, to play this character with all the authenticity he had in him. It was remarkable to watch him do it. And to be willing to take shit for it is an incredibly brave act by an artist. If you watch what Ben Platt does and you walk away and say, ‘He’s old’, then you were never going to get this movie. It’s not for you. For the rest of us, what we see is a generational performance by a generational talent.” Rolling Stone

 

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