Dear Evan Hansen 2021

So from when I watched the trailer I knew this was going to be a bad film, it’s not because Ben Platt was unconvincing as a school kid, I mean he didn’t look like one but who really cares, films do that all the time and he’s an amazing singer yet really awkward (which is a good thing in this role). This film was just really cringy, the songs were good but it all felt weird and unnatural. I found the story interesting which is why I watched the film, also because the director Steven Chbosky directed one of my favourite films, the perks of being a wallflower. I liked the idea of the whole film being about the main character being too awkward to tell the truth. That’s the kinda scenario I feel like I would get myself into, but the lie was pretty messed up and it ended up being kinda hard to route for him when he became a little bit of a dick. I relate to the awkwardness but the character ended up becoming pretty unlikeable, probably because whenever he says something nice he sings it and I kinda stopped paying attention whenever he started singing. Also like most films where the main character tells a big lie, it ended up being pretty predictable, main character tells lie, receives benefits from lie, lie is discovered, everyone hates him, character redeems him self and is forgiven, film ends. I did like connors character however, I know he was dead for basically the whole film but I feel like his character developed and was still important anyway, which was interesting as it was done in a kinda subtle way without using flashbacks and stuff like how they would in a show like 13 reasons why. It was also kind of weird how evans best friend was a nice guy but also kind of a dick as he didn’t want them to be real friends. If he wasn’t played by nik dodani, who is a super likeable guy in the show atypical, I probably would have hated him.  The story in this film is very real, kinda dark and interesting, talking about real problems real issues….. then the characters all sing about those issues and I feel like it takes away from the realism and cheapens the message. I know it’s based on a musical and I’m sure the musical is good, but maybe they should have kept the music for the musical and tried to create a serious film with a serious message about people who are struggling and how they are not alone. Instead of making high school musical if all the kids were anxious and depressed.  2.9/10