REVIEW: Dear Evan Hansen

Malia here (resident musical lover in the Shuey household) to start the movie review for this one.

That being said, here are my thoughts: first, Ben Platt does look way too old to be in high school, lol but honestly I forgot about that within the first half hour. I’m sure there are plenty of talented actors that would have made a great Evan, but it was wonderful seeing Ben bring him to life on the big screen. Next, the Murphy family was perfectly cast. The supporting cast brought tears to my eyes on multiple occasions just by the smallest ways they showed such complex emotions.

Without spoilers, there were definitely changes and honestly, I liked them. I think it brought some depth and clarity to characters and moments that may have been lacking a little bit in the stage version.

The bottom line: Did I still bawl my eyes out during “So Big, So Small”? Yes. Do I still think the stage version is better? Yes. But I still think this was a solid movie adaptation. 8.5/10.

Mickey: This on-screen version is a solid adaptation, but in many ways is far more difficult (read: cringe) to watch because of its medium—despite solid acting and musical numbers throughout this film.

The casting of Kaitlyn Denver, Amy Adams and Danny Pino were spot-on and generally exceeded my expectations. While Ben Platt has an exquisite voice, his casting as the titular character (whom he also played on Broadway) was distracted by his age.

This movie is a tough watch. It’s also one that could be easily viewed as one celebrating “grief tourism” and self-indulgent sorrow. Instead, I view it as a movie focused on shining light on real issues like depression, hopelessness and peer pressure—but as someone who relates on a personal level to pieces of this story and my own high school, it falls short of such a goal (much like the play).

Even so, the ending felt far more earned than it does in the play, and the artistic liberties taken generally added to the story the director was trying to tell.

All should go into the story with an open mind and expecting to see themself reflected in some way in the film, because you probably will.

The bottom line: 5.5/10