Film Review: DEAR EVAN HANSEN (2021): A Fine Cast Makes Musical Adaptation More Tolerable Than Expected

Dear Evan Hansen Review

Dear Evan Hansen (2021) Film Review, a movie directed by Stephen Chbosky and starring Ben Platt, Julianne Moore, Kaitlyn Dever, Amy Adams, Danny Pino, Amandla Stenberg, Colton Ryan, Nik Dodani, DeMarius Copes, Liz Kate, Zoey Luna, Isaac Powell, Marvin Leon, Hadiya Eshe, Julia Chen Myers, Gerald Caesar, Avery Bederman and Swift Rice.

Dear Evan Hansen is based on an award-winning Broadway musical and after watching the new film, it’s hard to imagine the central premise being embraced by theater goers so warmly. However, it was extremely well received and the film version is probably not going to be as highly regarded despite a fine, hard-working cast. A lot of the film’s problems lie in the actual story line itself but that does not mean there aren’t plenty of emotional moments that make the viewer emotionally invested in the material. It’s a gripping story of a young man yearning for acceptance and his willingness to lie in order to have a normal life with people who care about him. The problems with the story line come mostly when the movie takes light of its serious situation with some comic relief moments that are actually more cringe inducing than funny. Nevertheless, there are some substantial performances here and the movie contains an overall good message despite its flaws.

Ben Platt stars as Evan Hansen who is a teenage boy with anxiety. He encounters a troubled student named Connor (Colton Ryan) who signs Evan’s arm cast for him. Evan apparently fell from a tree but the story will reveal the real details of how he came to have a cast on his arm later on. Connor is strange but seems to have a brief interaction with Evan that suggests there is some kindness in his heart. When the news arrives that Connor has committed suicide, the film’s plot gets very complicated. You see, Evan was assigned by his therapist to write a letter to himself about his feelings towards life. Evan printed out that letter by accident and Connor had taken it from him. The letter is the catalyst to a story of mistaken identity in some ways as Evan is soon believed to have been Connor’s best friend.

Evan meets Connor’s parents. Connor’s mother was Cynthia (the always formidable Amy Adams) and his stepdad was Larry (Danny Pino). The parents believe that Connor and Evan were close. Evan, who feels a connection to the family, begins to lie in order to make things appear more rosy on the surface. After all, if Evan makes it known he didn’t know Connor at all, the parents will find a lot less comfort in their lives. To further complicate an already complicated situation, Connor’s sister, Zoe (Kaitlyn Dever) is the girl Evan has had a crush on. Evan proceeds to have his friend (Nik Dodani) falsify emails to prove the friendship between Evan and Connor.

Julianne Moore serves as Evan’s struggling mother, Heidi, a nurse who tries to make time for her son. Their big thing is “Taco Tuesdays” but when Heidi misses it one night, Evan begins to realize he needs more quality time than his mom seems to be giving him. Evan discovers that quality time with Connor’s parents. Cynthia, in particular, sees the good in Evan and believes her son Connor was a decent person who just had personal issues that led to his suicide. Evan also begins to forge a genuine relationship with Zoe who asks Evan if her brother ever spoke about her. Naturally, Evan lies to make Zoe feel better about her dysfunctional relationship with her brother. A romance blossoms between Evan and Zoe that is heartfelt and well portrayed on screen.

Amandla Stenberg plays Alana who wants to tell Connor’s story to prevent other people from committing suicide. She befriends Evan and reveals she too suffers from anxiety and depression contrary to the appearance she presents to others. Alana and Evan have some revealing exchanges and both performers are excellent in their scenes together.

Platt is pretty good here. He ably plays the troubled teenager with self doubts who gets in way over his head. The more popular he becomes, the harder he will fall if he reveals the truth. Dever, as his love interest, has never been better. We’ve seen her in Laggies and Booksmart and, here, she plays a completely different role than what we’re used to seeing her play. Dever comes up with her most heartfelt screen work to date.

Of course, old pros Amy Adams and Julianne Moore are the film’s most valuable players. Adams projects a sense of kindness that also shows a bit of a naive nature to her character. She’s a kind person but sees the good in a situation where there is a lot of bad. As Evan’s mother, Moore hits it out of the park showing a woman who loves her son regardless of how much time she can actually spend with him. She works for his well-being and he is the most important thing to her. There are a number of heartwarming, tear-jerking moments between Platt and Moore’s characters.

The plot of the movie is problematic because the ending becomes very hard to swallow. We know honesty is usually the best policy but I felt that some of the film’s deceptions shouldn’t have been revealed to the characters. In life, we tend to lie or stretch the truth in order for people to find a happy medium. If all truth was revealed in life then it would be a much harder world to bear. I’m not saying that what Evan does in the film is wrong but it sometimes feels wrong in this particular case. That’s mainly because of the devastating circumstances behind Connor’s death. Evan is a sympathetic character but one who puts himself in a situation that is hard to get out of without getting hurt emotionally.

The Nik Dodani character was merely comic relief in the film and although Dodani is OK, I felt we didn’t need the comedy to make Dear Evan Hansen a powerful story. Although I’m not a fan of the decisions Evan makes in the film, the movie will make you search your own soul to discover what you would do if you were in his situation. The fact that the film features some knockout performances as well makes it worth seeing.

Rating: 7/10

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