Based on the Tony Award-winning musical, this musical adaptation from director Stephen Chbosky is a misguided disappointment that feels more like a horrible after-school special on bullying, suicide, and mental illness than an actual musical. After directing the charming coming-of-age movies “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” and “Wonder,” Stephen Chbosky fails to capture the tone and atmosphere that he brought to both films and makes the characters very unrelatable. While filming this movie at the age of 27, Ben Platt reprised his Tony Award-winning performance as Evan Hansen. Despite being a talented singer in this movie, he is unconvincing as Evan Hansen. The role requires a teenager to play this role, and by having Platt play Evan Hansen, he comes off as a creepy adult instead of a kid making this character one of the most unlikable characters I have seen in quite some time. “Dear Evan Hansen” is one of the most disappointing musicals in recent years because it lacks the charm and likeability the Broadway show had and replaces it with a story about suicide and mental illness told in the worse way possible. Due to the misguided direction and a lead character that is one hundred percent miscast, “Dear Evan Hansen” could have been something special but failed to succeed expectations. The film also made me ask myself a fascinating question: should Broadway musicals stay as shows and not be adapted into movies based on the material you see onstage?
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