by Jordyn Eckers
From Broadway hit to the big screen, Dear Evan Hansen is a story of a high school boy battling anxiety, depression, and the impulse to pathologically lie.
DEH won six Tony Awards, one for Best Actor in a Leading Role, given to Ben Platt, who now also stars in the movie. With a very talented and star-studded film cast, more attention was brought to the story than there had ever been on the Broadway stage. I got to see Dear Evan Hansen at an advanced screening at the 92Y, along with a panel afterwards with some cast and team members. I thought that although there are some questionable elements to the story, it was more enjoyable than the reviews are making it out to be. Yes, there are obvious issues, but altogether it has a good message that everyone should hear.
From 2016-2020, I was a major contributor to the noise around Dear Evan Hansen. I had seen it on Broadway six times, and was a huge fan of the stage cast, including Platt. Therefore when it was announced that Platt and Colton Ryan (whom I had seen as Evan Hansen my first time) were the only two Broadway cast members included in the film I was disappointed. But in saying that, Kaitlyn Dever (known for her role in Booksmart) and Amandla Stenberg (Hunger Games) fit their roles perfectly, along with Amy Adams, Julianne Moore, and others.
The main issue of the film is that you have to ignore Platt’s age. As a 28 year old playing a 17 year old, his age is much easier to ignore when watching on a stage in the theatre than when you see him up close on the big screen. Although I am a huge fan of his, I do have to admit that it was very difficult to get past how old Platt looked.
Although his father was also a contributor to casting, you cannot deny how incredibly talented he is. He did an amazing job continuing the role that was his real big break, and although he looked old, he portrayed the essence of Evan very well.
The director Stephen Chbosky is the author and director of The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012), and it is clear to see the common theme of his work: teen mental health. The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a fan favorite, beautifully showing a classic high school coming of age realistically. Dear Evan Hansen is a musical approach to the same idea that still makes the audience cry.
But the difference between the two is that while you feel an incredible amount of empathy for Charlie in The Perks of Being a Wallflower, you feel none of that same empathy for Evan Hansen. In the end, it is impossible to support him, making the ending feel very disingenuous, especially when the story isn’t self-aware enough to recognize that the audience will not be in on the support of Evan.
Another aspect of the film that didn’t sit right was the antagonism of the exact audience they wanted to reach. The message of the movie is that mental health issues can affect anyone, even the ‘popular kids’ and you should treat everyone with empathy and understanding. A new song was added to the film to emphasize this, which was an immense addition to the already incredible soundtrack. And although the message is clear, the film vilified the stereotypical ‘jocks and popular kids’, showing them as insensitive and downright mean. If they were trying to reach these highschool kids as their audience, why would they paint them out to be so horrible?
While the stage cast had only eight cast members, I felt as if they better portrayed the story’s message than the film. I will never get the feeling of seeing the story unfold in front of you while surrounded by a thousand others. The message of Dear Evan Hansen is one that will touch anyone who watches, but saying that, the stage production was able to present the story better.
