Before I get into the problems, I should start by saying overall it's a good movie, and I do recommend it. The performances are excellent. The acting and singing are first rate. Amy Adams as Cynthia is struggling so hard to believe in anything good about her dead son when her own husband and daughter have a very different view of who he was. She is blind to the truth and all but pulls the "big lie" out of Evan against his will. Julianne Moore makes a huge impact with a reduce role (from the stage play) as Evan's mother, and her live singing toward the end was a surprise and quite good. I wasn't bothered by the "actual" ages of Ben Platt or any of the other high school characters. But I can see why, if you're distanced from this film while watching it, you begin to pick it apart and wonder why you're not connecting more with the narrative. Here's why I kept pulling away ... and yeah, some spoilers ahead if you haven't seen the stage show on Broadway or on tour.
Something is "off," and I felt it right away. When you have a plot about a troubled teen who commits suicide, and the main character, also a teenager with mental issues, lies about their relationship, you know this is heavy stuff. You don't need to make it darker and more serious and more "troubled" in tone.
Note to everyone: "Darker" isn't better. "Serious" isn't better. It's not an automatic improvement. In this case, it's a major detraction and distraction.
I put the blame squarely on the director Stephen Chbosky, who is out of his league here. He doesn't understand how crucial "balance" is to pull off this story. The first mistake is starting the entire film with the main character's "I Want" song before we even know who he is. "Waving through a Window" is a tour de force for Ben Platt, but it really doesn't tell us everything we need to know about Evan in a nutshell. We can't get inside Evan's head before we're introduced to him on screen. I was stunned by that decision.
While this isn't a comedy by any stretch or means, there were some honest big laughs in the play, especially early on. Evan's quirkiness, lightning-fast self-deprecation, and lack of a filter on his remarks were spastic and endearing. He didn't walk around like a banished corpse from beginning to end. He does in the movie. Whatever youthful energy and humor that existed in the play has been sucked dry on screen, with the exception of "Sincerely Me." That's when I realized what was missing. That song and sequence give us somewhere to go when things begin to unravel, and in the quieter moments as well. The problem is that the rest of this movie is "quieter moments." The emotions are heavy, deep, painful, and always on display. Humor is an audience's bridge into this story and a way to relate to these characters, but there's barely any humor. Changing Alana's character is another red flag for me. Yes, Amandla Stenberg is fine with the material she's given, but her new portrayal of this reimagined character throws the balance off yet again.
Because we have so many realistic, painfully truthful, well-acted moments, the songs often feel forced or wedged into the scenes. Many of them come off as intrusive or abrupt, instead of as an extension of emotions and a deeper dive into a situation. If you're already in that "deep" why suddenly sing? Again, the balance is off.
See the movie. Many of these darker, heavier moments work really well. See it for the excellent acting and singing, and yes, I did wipe away tears more than once. But there was a much better movie to be made from this material. And I find that disappointing and a bit of a shame.
Something is "off," and I felt it right away. When you have a plot about a troubled teen who commits suicide, and the main character, also a teenager with mental issues, lies about their relationship, you know this is heavy stuff. You don't need to make it darker and more serious and more "troubled" in tone.
Note to everyone: "Darker" isn't better. "Serious" isn't better. It's not an automatic improvement. In this case, it's a major detraction and distraction.
I put the blame squarely on the director Stephen Chbosky, who is out of his league here. He doesn't understand how crucial "balance" is to pull off this story. The first mistake is starting the entire film with the main character's "I Want" song before we even know who he is. "Waving through a Window" is a tour de force for Ben Platt, but it really doesn't tell us everything we need to know about Evan in a nutshell. We can't get inside Evan's head before we're introduced to him on screen. I was stunned by that decision.
While this isn't a comedy by any stretch or means, there were some honest big laughs in the play, especially early on. Evan's quirkiness, lightning-fast self-deprecation, and lack of a filter on his remarks were spastic and endearing. He didn't walk around like a banished corpse from beginning to end. He does in the movie. Whatever youthful energy and humor that existed in the play has been sucked dry on screen, with the exception of "Sincerely Me." That's when I realized what was missing. That song and sequence give us somewhere to go when things begin to unravel, and in the quieter moments as well. The problem is that the rest of this movie is "quieter moments." The emotions are heavy, deep, painful, and always on display. Humor is an audience's bridge into this story and a way to relate to these characters, but there's barely any humor. Changing Alana's character is another red flag for me. Yes, Amandla Stenberg is fine with the material she's given, but her new portrayal of this reimagined character throws the balance off yet again.
Because we have so many realistic, painfully truthful, well-acted moments, the songs often feel forced or wedged into the scenes. Many of them come off as intrusive or abrupt, instead of as an extension of emotions and a deeper dive into a situation. If you're already in that "deep" why suddenly sing? Again, the balance is off.
See the movie. Many of these darker, heavier moments work really well. See it for the excellent acting and singing, and yes, I did wipe away tears more than once. But there was a much better movie to be made from this material. And I find that disappointing and a bit of a shame.