A musical adaptation of Dear Evan Hansen seemed like a logical conclusion on paper. The musical follows the story of the socially isolated high-school student Evan Hansen, whose world changes after a letter he wrote as a writing exercise falls into the hands of the grieving parents of a school acquaintance who bring Hansen into their family, mistaking the boy as their son’s friend.
Debuting in July 2015, the show quickly became one of the more popular musical theater productions in the late 2010s. Winning six Tony Awards, it’s no wonder a theatrical adaptation was on the charts.
Unfortunately, Dear Evan Hansen’s movie adaptation did not succeed. The film had its fair share of problems, some similar to the original musical and others exacerbated within the movie. Some of the major criticisms include the massive tonal dissonance from the musical’s dark subject matter and the jovial tone of its music numbers. Additionally, while Evan Hansen is portrayed by his original musical actor Ben Platt, Hansen is visibly too old to portray a high-schooler, despite attempts at making him younger with makeup.
The biggest criticism came at Hansen’s character arc, or lack thereof. Audiences felt that Hansen got away with everything at the end of the story and didn’t properly grapple with the damage his social anxiety and desire for connection had done to those around him. While the original musical also had criticisms of portraying Hansen’s actions in a good light, the film took it further.
At least with the original musical, its ending left Hansen suffering the consequences for what he did throughout the story. The Dear Evan Hansen adaptation could have been a decent adaptation, but only if there was care in properly handling the darker themes in the story and allowing its characters to grow. Unfortunately, not every musical production can translate well on screen.
