{"id":343616,"date":"2021-09-24T03:27:53","date_gmt":"2021-09-24T00:27:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/dear-evan-hansen-should-have-been-stuffed-into-a-locker-and-forgotten\/"},"modified":"2021-09-24T03:27:53","modified_gmt":"2021-09-24T00:27:53","slug":"dear-evan-hansen-should-have-been-stuffed-into-a-locker-and-forgotten","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/dear-evan-hansen-should-have-been-stuffed-into-a-locker-and-forgotten\/","title":{"rendered":"#’Dear Evan Hansen’ Should Have Been Stuffed Into a Locker and Forgotten"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#’Dear Evan Hansen’ Should Have Been Stuffed Into a Locker and Forgotten<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

     <span class=\"mx-1\">You\u2019ll find it hard to care despite the film\u2019s insistence that you probably should.<\/span>\n<\/p><div id=\"\"><figure class=\"sf-entry-featured-media<\/a> \"><img width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Dear-Evan-Hansen-Universal-Pictures.jpeg\" class=\"articlethumb wp-post-image\" alt=\"Dear Evan Hansen Universal Pictures\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><p>\n                    <span class=\"sf-entry-flag sf-entry-flag-creditline\">Universal Pictures<\/span>\n\n                        <\/figure><!-- START BYLINE --><div class=\"row align-items-center justify-content-center my-4 text-center medium dark-gray\">\n        By\u00a0Rob Hunter\u00a0\u00b7 Published on September 23rd, 2021 \n        <\/div>\n    <!-- END BYLINE -->\n\n    The difference between intention and execution is typically not all that noticeable, but sometimes the target an artist aims for is far removed from the one they hit. That divide has rarely been as wide as the one existing between the stated theme<\/a>s of <strong><em>Dear Evan Hansen<\/em><\/strong> and the film itself. It is a movie with the best of intentions, but it\u2019s destined to leave some viewers with the meanest of thoughts about the title character.\n<\/code><\/pre>\n
Evan (a twenty-seven year-old Ben Platt<\/strong>) is a teenager with Social Anxiety disorder. We know this because he says as much but also because his hands fidget, he looks to the floor a lot, and he sings (songs that others hear as normal talking). A well-meaning therapist, probably unlicensed, suggests he write and print positive, optimistic letters to himself to start his day on the right foot. Evan does just that while at school one day, but his written thoughts take a darker turn. Worse, the printout is taken by the school\u2019s loner, Connor (Colton Ryan<\/strong>), who proceeds to go home and kill himself. Connor\u2019s grieving parents (Amy Adams<\/strong>, Danny Pino<\/strong>) assume their son wrote the note and that the two teens were friends, and Evan \u2014 awkward, lonely, anxious, selfish, devious Evan \u2014 encourages that belief.<\/p>\n
Look, I\u2019m all for stories telling the sad truth about victims gaining power and becoming the villains, but where 2017\u2019s underseen Taiwanese gem Mon Mon Mon Monsters<\/em> and Nate\u2019s arc on the second season of Ted Lasso<\/em> get it right, Dear Evan Hansen<\/em> gets it woefully wrong. Evan is an underdog of sorts, but letting him not just ride but steer this runaway train of emotional manipulation, inconsideration, and cruelty for most of an offensively long running time is a choice that severely undermines the very real themes at play and instead results in a train wreck of a movie.<\/p>\n
Writer Steven Levenson<\/strong> adapts his own stage musical \u2014 one I\u2019ve never seen meaning this is a review strictly of the film as it stands \u2014 alongside director Stephen Chbosky<\/strong> (The Perks of Being a Wallflower<\/em>, 2012), and its various beats are an incredibly difficult balancing act to pull off under even the best of circumstances. The talent on display here is a big push towards those exact circumstances as the cast also includes greats like Julianne Moore<\/strong>, Kaitlyn Dever<\/strong>, and Amandla Stenberg<\/strong>, but none of them can right the wrongs of Dear Evan Hansen<\/em>.<\/p>\n
While Evan\u2019s initial response is one built on sympathy for the family, he quickly takes the support and kind words he\u2019s receiving \u2014 his \u201cfriendship\u201d becomes the focus of a movement to encourage reaching out to those around you so that no one feels so alone \u2014 and shapes them to his wants and desires. His mom (Moore) works too much, so he bathes in the attention of Connor\u2019s parents. He\u2019s long had a crush on Connor\u2019s sister Zoe (Dever), so he takes this opportunity to bag her as a girlfriend. (This beat is its own source of contention as Zoe\u2019s sudden attraction to Evan makes Malignant<\/em>\u2018s bonkers story turns seem quite sedate by comparison.) He betrays the friendship of the film\u2019s kindest soul, but don\u2019t worry, the film ensures that she return the favor as one last hurrah towards inconsistency of character.<\/p>\n
There are more plot beats that follow including an end reveal meant to encourage sympathy for Evan, but it\u2019s the epitome of \u201ctoo little too late.\u201d By the time the end credits roll, there\u2019s not a single character here who feels authentic, honest, or redeemed. Even Evan\u2019s mom, the most grounded character here and given believable life by Moore, succumbs to the emptiness of Dear Evan Hansen<\/em>\u2018s ultimate message. After learning her son\u2019s been a real dick and has caused unbearable emotional harm, she essentially tells him \u201cmeh, who\u2019ll remember this in a year?\u201d We should all be so lucky as to forget it, but that seems unlikely.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s all so unfortunate too, as again, these are talented people telling what should have been an affecting and important story. Platt is a gifted singer, but he feels so out of place here and unable to pass for a teen (despite having originated the role on stage six years ago). Slumped shoulders feel like an ineffective effort to appear smaller, and the eventual (and inexplicable) erasure of his anxious mannerisms is a choice that seems ill-conceived across the board. Yes, you too can overcome your debilitating psychiatric disorder simply by making others feel like shit!<\/p>\n
Anyway.<\/p>\n
Did I mention it\u2019s also a musical? While 2021\u2019s other film musicals feature dance numbers and ensemble songs, Dear Evan Hansen<\/em> sees its characters break into occasional song to impart both dialogue and exposition. While one sings others interject as if it\u2019s merely a conversation, and when Evan\u2019s public and entirely fictional ode to Connor\u2019s friendship goes viral it\u2019s not his song people are seeing, sharing, and reacting to, it\u2019s just him talking. The device works well to elevate emotionally charged dialogue by crafting it in musical deliveries, but the songs never really break through with lyrics about being alone, refusing to care, or how Evan\u2019s mom isn\u2019t a U-Haul truck. (I may have misunderstood Moore\u2019s song to her son about how she\u2019s sticking with him for the long haul.)<\/p>\n
The one thing Dear Evan Hansen<\/em> gets right is that social media is a true scourge of modern society. It\u2019s never the focus here, and indeed the unwashed masses who use it to blindly lift or bash others are never taken to task, but it\u2019s a truth all the same. The idea that bullies who find popularity often become bullies themselves is also both present and ignored leaving only the more simplistic theme behind \u2014 be nice to others because you never really know what they\u2019re dealing with in their own lives (and given the opportunity these motherfuckers will happily dance on your grave).<\/p>\n
    Related Topics: Dear Evan Hansen\n    <!-- AUTHOR BOX -->\n<\/code><\/pre>\n
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\n            Rob Hunter has been writing for Film School Rejects since before you were born, which is weird seeing as he’s so damn young. He’s our Chief Film Critic and Associate Editor and lists ‘Broadcast News<\/a>’ as his favorite film of all time. Feel free to say hi if you see him on Twitter @FakeRobHunter<\/a>.        <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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“#’Dear Evan Hansen’ Should Have Been Stuffed Into a Locker and Forgotten” <span class=”mx-1″>You\u2019ll find it hard to care despite the film\u2019s insistence that you probably should.<\/span> <\/p><div id=””><figure class=”sf-entry-featured-media “><img width=”800″ height=”450″ src=”https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Dear-Evan-Hansen-Universal-Pictures.jpeg” class=”articlethumb wp-post-image” alt=”Dear Evan Hansen Universal Pictures” loading=”lazy”\/><p> <span class=”sf-entry-flag sf-entry-flag-creditline”>Universal Pictures<\/span> <\/figure><!– START BYLINE –><div class=”row align-items-center justify-content-center my-4 text-center…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":343617,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Dear-Evan-Hansen-Universal-Pictures.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-343616","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-mediaa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343616","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=343616"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343616\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/343617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=343616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=343616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=343616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}