Review: Flawed 'Dear Evan Hansen' adaption is still an important conversation starter
Dear Evan Hansen
3 out of 5 Stars
Director: Stephen Chbosky
Writer: Steven Levenson
Starring: Ben Platt, Julianne Moore, Kaitlyn Dever
Genre: Drama, Musical
Rated: PG-13 for thematic material involving suicide, brief strong language and some suggestive reference
SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) – Synopsis: Evan Hansen, a high school senior who struggles with anxiety, is mistakenly believed to be the friend of Connor Murphy, a classmate who commits suicide. Afraid to disappoint Connor’s family, Evan paints a false narrative of who Connor was.
Review: We need to have a conversation about anxiety, depression, loneliness, and isolation. We need to talk about suicide. “Dear Evan Hansen,” a musical unlike other musicals, wants to help facilitate that discussion.
There are aspects of Steven Levenson’s narrative that make me uncomfortable. Specifically, the lie. That doesn’t necessarily make the choices wrong or inappropriate. If I wrote “Dear Evan Hansen,” it would be a radically different story. It might also be entirely ineffective.
Love or hate “Dear Evan Hansen,” it is impossible to ignore the musical’s success on an international level. Clearly, this is something that speaks to the thousands of fans who flocked to it. “Dear Evan Hansen” isn’t a story that’s easy to love. It’s centered on a protagonist who makes numerous bad decisions. I’ve made my share of those as well. I think of my friends who have taken their own lives and wonder if they would still be living if I made fewer.
In a world that wants things to be black or white, I find it incredibly difficult to say that Evan Hansen is unworthy of forgiveness. When I talked with Kaitlyn Dever, who plays the sister of the young man who commits suicide,about the film, she told me that Evan has to be forgiven. It's the only way that the play works. She's probably right. The truth is, when I’m consumed by anxiety, I make illogical decisions, do incredibly stupid things too.
Director Stephen Chbosky’s “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” is essentially the story of my adolescence. I trust him and his intentions. I do, however, find the casting of Ben Plattas Evan Hansen to be a bit distracting. It has nothing to do with his talent. It has everything to do with the fact that he doesn’t look like a teenager. You can argue that Dever, who is only three years younger than Platt, is too old as well. The difference is that Dever looks the part.
Casting aside, “Dear Evan Hansen” is a good film but it feels distant. Rather than making the material more intimate, the big screen put me at a distance. I’m an observer wanting to be a participant. I love Amy Adams. I didn’t feel her mother’s grief in the way the script needs me to.Julianne Mooreis an accessory that has only one good scene.
I can’t help but wonder if whatever it is about “Dear Evan Hansen” that makes the play work in a live setting is somehow lost in translation. Sometimes a play works because it is a play. I don’t think that “Dear Evan Hansen” is entirely effective as a film. It has to do with the structuring, the way the secondary characters move in and out of the story. There’s a reason that Chbosky’s “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” isn’t a direct adaptation of his novel. The stories are largely the same, but Chbosky recognized that what is effective on the page doesn’t necessarily translate to the screen. Having not seen “Dear Evan Hansen” in a live setting, all of this is purely speculation.
That said, it isn’t a film that wants to make you feel comfortable. It provides an ending that is a little sugary, but the bulk of the narrative should make you feel uneasy. It should motivate you to change the way you interact with those around you.
Those who love the musical will likely love the film. Those struggling for a way to talk about their own anxieties and struggles with self-esteem will also find it useful. I love its intentions, its purpose. Let’s talk about depression. Let’s demystify mental illness. Let’s save lives.