The Prom (2020) review (Netflix)

 

On November 15^th, 2018, a new musical titled The Prom officially opened on Broadway at the Longacre Theatre. With music by Matthew Sklar, lyrics by Chad Beguelin, and a script by Beguelin and Bob Martin based off an original concept by Jack Viertel, The Prom tells the story of a young lesbian student who is banned from attending her high-school prom but is helped in her efforts to fight back against this ruling by a group of Broadway stars. The musical was largely inspired by a similar incident that happened to Constance McMillen in 2010 when she was a senior at Itawamba Agricultural High School in Fulton, Mississippi, which attracted a bunch of supportive responses from celebrities. And upon its debut, the show proved to be a solid hit with critics. It was the first musical of that Broadway season to earn a Critics Pick honor from the New York Times, and while it didn’t win any Tony Awards, it earned 7 nominations including one for Best Musical. It also attracted plenty of attention at the 2018 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade when stars Caitlin Kinnunen and Isabelle McCalla partook in the first LGBTQ kiss in the parade’s history. And now, in 2020, it’s been brought to life on film in a star-studded adaptation directed by Ryan Murphy. While it’s only his fourth feature-length directorial effort, Murphy has been touted as one of the most prominent creative forces in television having created hit shows like Glee and American Horror Story while also being a champion for the cause of greater inclusion within the film and television industry. The Prom serves as one of the first major projects that Murphy has developed for Netflix via the lucrative $300 million deal that they signed him to in 2018, and with a delightful cast and a great execution of its source material’s timely themes, we have ourselves a truly heartwarming musical extravaganza.  

In the conservative-minded town of Edgewater, Indiana, high-school student Emma Nolan (Jo Ellen Pellman) finds herself in an utterly devastating situation when her desire to attend her high-school prom with her girlfriend Alyssa Greene (Ariana DeBose) results in the local Parent-Teacher Association canceling it entirely, thus turning her into a full-blown social pariah. And if that wasn’t enough, the head of the PTA happens to be Alyssa’s mother (Kerry Washington), who is completely unaware of her daughter’s relationship with Emma. However, when all seems lost, Emma finds herself blessed with the most unexpected showing of support in the form of a quartet of actors from Broadway; specifically, self-centered stars Dee Dee Allen (Meryl Streep) and Barry Glickman (James Corden), long-time chorus girl Angie Dickinson (Nicole Kidman), and Julliard alum Trent Oliver (Andrew Rannells). In the immediate wake of a disastrous opening night for their latest Broadway production that results in them being labeled as a pair of narcissists by various critics, Dee Dee and Barry learn of Emma’s predicament and, along with Angie and Trent, decide to head to Edgewater on her behalf. But while they’re initially in it solely for the intent of salvaging their reputations by partaking in ‘a cause’, the group genuinely begins to bond with Emma and, with the help of her highly supportive principal Mr. Hawkins (Keegan-Michael Key), begin working tirelessly to make her prom dreams come true.  

Right off the bat, the best thing that I can say about this film is that it truly delivers on its strong themes that couldn’t be any more relevant given everything that’s been happening in the world recently. Obviously, one’s thoughts on how effective content like this is in highlighting the LGBTQ community may vary, but in this instance, I do believe that The Prom (which I would personally describe as a ‘modern-day version of Footloose’) is very much genuine in its themes of love and acceptance. And when paired with a filmmaker like Ryan Murphy who, as noted earlier, is big on inclusion, you get an adaptation that hits all the right emotional beats from the cathartically heartwarming to the utterly devastating. Admittedly, I can’t say much about how effective the film is as an adaptation of the musical since I haven’t seen the latter, but aside from expanding upon some plotlines such as Barry Glickman’s own struggles as a gay man and how it impacted his relationship with his parents, it seems like the film is as faithful to its source material as it could possibly be. Sure, it probably could’ve benefitted from some tighter editing here and there to make up for any parts of the film that start to drag a bit, but as a musical, it goes without saying that this is where The Prom shines the most. Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin’s songs are undeniable earworms and are a great mix of grand showstoppers and emotionally powerful melodies. And under Ryan Murphy’s solid direction, we get a film that, simply put, is just a highly entertaining musical comedy anchored by its lovable bunch of main protagonists.

That said, though, while the film does sport a star-studded ensemble cast, said cast has admittedly garnered some controversy from fans of the musical over the decision to have A-listers play the lead roles rather than Broadway stars. There are some Broadway alumni in this, to be fair, such as Andrew Rannells and Ariana DeBose, but it’s primarily headlined by those who have more experience in film than they do in theater. Still, for what it’s worth, practically everyone involved is clearly having a lot of fun in their respective roles. Whether it’s Meryl Streep being her usual scene-stealing self or Keegan-Michael Key serving as the straight man to all the shenanigans that the Broadway stars get into, you can’t fault this film for having an incredibly fun ensemble. However, when it comes to the film’s biggest standout, that honor goes to its biggest newcomer, Jo Ellen Pellman. It is almost entirely because of her that we care about Emma and her endeavors because she makes her a wholly sympathetic heroine right off the bat. In other words, she’s very much the heart of the film. But now we must address the elephant in the room that is the biggest source of controversy that this film has been attracting in the wake of its release; the casting of James Corden as the gay leading man of Broadway, Barry Glickman. Simply put, unlike Barry, Corden is not a gay man whereas the other LGBTQ characters in this story are more accurately cast (ironically, one of Corden’s main co-stars is Andrew Rannells and he’s playing a character whose sexuality is never made explicit). Now I’m not going to get into this whole situation that much since, as I’ve noted in the past, I usually don’t like to talk about sociopolitical matters such as this in these reviews. So instead, I’ll just say that while I’m not defending Corden’s performance in this, I’d argue that the rest of the cast makes up for any shortcomings that directly stem from him. Was he the ideal pick for the part? No, not at all, but at the same time, I also wouldn’t call this a case where his performance derails the film entirely even though Barry is arguably the most prominently featured member of the Broadway quartet.

I’ll admit that I don’t have a lot of experience with the world of Broadway, which could largely be attributed to the fact that I don’t live in New York where, at least before COVID became a thing, I would have a lot more opportunities to see Broadway shows regularly rather than just occasionally seeing a touring production of a popular show at my local theatres. And yet, as some of the past reviews that I’ve done for this site have arguably proven, I’m a big fan of the musical genre and have liked a fair share of adaptations of Broadway musicals such as the ever-enduring classic Grease and Tim Burton’s delightfully twisted take on Sweeney Todd. As such, it should probably go without saying that I thoroughly enjoyed the film adaptation of The Prom. While I admittedly haven’t seen the original show at the time of this review’s publication, the fact that all three of the key figures behind it (Matthew Sklar, Chad Beguelin, and Bob Martin) were involved in the film’s production makes it clear that this adaptation was in the right hands, and because of this, The Prom is the very definition of a feel-good film. With powerful themes, undeniably catchy tunes, and a great cast, The Prom is a film that very much wears its heart on its sleeve. I mean, there’s really nothing more that I can say about this film other than the fact that it’s a highly entertaining musical that excellently represents the wonderfully diverse nature of our ever-expanding pop cultural landscape. And to be perfectly blunt, folks, in the utterly terrible year that has been 2020, I’d argue that this is one of the best examples of a film that I can easily recommend to anyone out there who’s in desperate need of a pick-me-up.  

Rating: 5/5!

Cats (2019) review

Your eyes aren’t deceiving you, folks… I’m about to review what has easily been the most infamous film of 2019, the film adaptation of the long-running musical, Cats. The musical made its London debut in 1981, five years before composer Andrew Lloyd Webber unleashed his biggest smash hit on the world, The Phantom of the Opera, and was inspired by the 1939 collection of poems titled Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats written by T.S. Eliot. A year later, it would make its Broadway debut, and both versions of the show ended up being massive financial hits. To date, Cats is the fourth highest-grossing musical of all-time with a worldwide gross of over $2.8 billion, and it is widely regarded as the first ‘mega-musical’ AKA the theater equivalent of a cinematic blockbuster. Over the years, however, the overall reception towards the show has varied due to its many bizarre aspects, and sure enough, this mindset carried over to the announcement that a film adaptation was in the works as practically every major aspect of its production became a prime source of internet mockery. Sure, it was set to be directed by Tom Hooper, who had previously directed 2010’s Best Picture winner The King’s Speech and the 2012 adaptation of another legendary musical, Les Misérables, but the overall mixed reception towards the latter and the growing criticism of Hooper’s directorial trademarks didn’t help. And once the first trailer for the film was released, the internet recoiled at the sight of the bizarre project that was set to hit theaters which, when it ultimately did, was widely panned by critics and immediately regarded as one of the most disastrous films in recent memory. Thus, today we’ll be going over all the reasons why Cats is the utterly fascinating mess that it ends up being.

One night, a young white kitten named Victoria (Francesca Hayward) is abandoned by her owner on the streets of London. Immediately, she is approached by a group of alley cats who refer to themselves as ‘Jellicle’ cats. Through them, Victoria learns that tonight happens to be the biggest night of the year for the Jellicles, the Jellicle Ball. Every year, the Jellicles’ wise leader, Old Deuteronomy (Judi Dench), selects one member of their tribe who will ascend to the mythical place known as the Heaviside Layer and be reborn. And so, Victoria and the rest of the Jellicles begin to witness some of the most prominent members of the tribe compete for this honor, which includes everyone from the bourgeois Bustopher Jones (James Corden) to the elderly theater performer Gus (Ian McKellen). At the same time, however, the Jellicles must also deal with the actions of the sinister Macavity (Idris Elba), who will stop at nothing to ensure that he’s the one who gets chosen. And really, folks… that’s about it for the plot. As I’m sure those in the theater community will agree, Cats sports the very definition of a bare-bones plot that’s basically just a series of vignettes in which new characters are introduced and they have their big solo numbers. And while I can’t say much about how this translates to the stage since I’ve admittedly haven’t seen Cats in its original musical form, I have the feeling that it works a lot better there than it does on film. Here, that kind of plot makes the whole thing quite repetitive and it also doesn’t help that the film speeds through the story at a surprisingly rapid pace, which means that there’s never a point where it slows down to let us properly fathom any of its utterly bizarre moments.

But, of course, the one thing that will forever define this film’s reputation is how it brings the story’s feline characters to life. Ever since its debut, the musical has always relied on elaborate costuming and makeup to accomplish this. But as for the film, it opted to go the CGI route and utilize motion-capture to turn its cast into cats. And as you might have guessed, this was the main reason why the film’s initial trailer ended up becoming so notorious as many felt that its CGI designs were one of the most blatant examples of imagery that falls into the uncanny valley. And while I personally never found these designs ‘scary’ like the rest of the internet regards them as (in a year which also saw that same description apply to the sight of Will Smith’s Genie in his traditional blue form and the initial cinematic design of Sonic the Hedgehog), even I can agree that this wasn’t the right way to go when it came to bringing Cats to the big screen. Simply put, practically all the big stars in the film get some incredibly unflattering CGI makeovers. And despite all the behind-the-scenes videos that emphasized how the production utilized some genuinely impressive larger-than-life sets, this is a very CGI-dominated film in general, which means that the weaker effects don’t just apply to the characters. However, given the various reports that came out after the film’s release, this is ultimately something that you can’t really fault the VFX artists for since it’s now been well-established that this film was beyond rushed and they had an incredibly tense relationship with director Tom Hooper. In fact, it was so rushed that the studio had to send out a new version of the film to theaters (during its opening weekend, no less) to fix some glaring visual effects errors, namely the appearance of Judi Dench’s wedding ring on her hand in certain shots. However, from what I’ve read (and based off the version of the film that I watched on VUDU), this ‘updated’ cut didn’t make any noticeable changes, which means that, yes, you can still see Judi Dench’s wedding ring on numerous occasions.

And yet, arguably the most ironic aspect of this film is that, despite all its visual shortcomings and its strict adherence to maintaining the overall weirdness of its source material, much of its star-studded cast is still fully committed to the bizarre antics that they end up partaking in. Going back to this film’s behind-the-scenes videos for a second, the overall vibe that you get from the cast in their various testimonials is that they genuinely wanted to be there, and as crazy as it may sound, this enthusiasm can be seen in a lot of their performances. Legends like Judi Dench and Ian McKellen give it their all and while she may have arguably been a bit young for the role of the withered glamour cat Grizabella, Jennifer Hudson still gives the musical’s most iconic number, ‘Memory’, the emotional powerhouse of a performance it deserves. In fact, Dench’s casting as a gender-swapped Old Deuteronomy is quite significant since she was originally cast as Grizabella in the original London production of the musical but had to drop out at the last minute when she tore her Achilles tendon during rehearsals. But remember what I said earlier about how this is basically just a series of vignettes that jump from character to character? Well, because of that, most of the characters in this film are basically relegated to minor cameos which, in this instance, ends up applying to the most prominent members of the ensemble such as McKellen, James Corden, and Taylor Swift as the flirtatious Bombalurina, just to name a few. Instead, the film tends to focus more on the story’s supporting players, namely the trio of Munkustrap (Robbie Fairchild), Mr. Mistoffelees (Laurie Davidson), and Victoria, whose traditionally silent role in the musical is expanded upon to make her the main protagonist. However, the methods in which the film handles this change are rather mediocre and, at best, she just ends up being a generally passive audience surrogate. Thus, while I’m well aware that many have harped on Francesca Hayward’s performance in the role, this is ultimately another case like the VFX artists where you can’t really blame it on her since, to be perfectly frank, she didn’t have much to work with here.

So, yeah… as you might have guessed, there’s not a lot of positive things that I can say about this film. Now, granted, I’m not as repulsed by this film as the rest of the internet is, but it goes without saying that Cats is one of the strangest films to come out in recent years. Of course, a lot of this has to do with its questionable method of bringing the titular cats to life via CGI, especially since it’s now been made clear that the rushed production schedule that this film ended up having resulted in its effects feeling quite unfinished. At the same time, though, there’s also the matter of how this film ended up taking the musical that it's based on and doing almost nothing to try and work around its most bizarre aspects. Because of this, anybody who isn’t familiar with the musical going in will most likely be left completely and utterly dumbfounded by its strange and simplistic story. And yet, while this may seem like a case where it’d be more accessible to those who are fans of the musical, it seems like even that’s impossible (based on what I’ve heard) because of the radical changes that this film makes to both its plot and several of its musical numbers. It’s worth noting that the original plans for this film adaptation were to have it be an animated feature done by Steven Spielberg’s production company Amblin Entertainment’s animation division, Amblimation. And while this iteration of the project ultimately went nowhere when the division was shut down in 1997, it’s safe to say that this film probably would’ve worked a hell of a lot better had it been animated as originally intended.

Rating: 1.5/5

Jersey Boys (2014) review

This is one of those cases where you have a movie that is directed by someone that quite frankly you would have never expected to make a movie that was a part of that genre given the director’s previous filmography. I mean, with a movie like ‘Jersey Boys’, based off of the four-time Tony Award winning Broadway musical of the same name which debuted in 2005 dramatizing the rise and fall of the famous 60’s rock group ‘The Four Seasons’, who would you think would have been a good choice to direct the film? Maybe someone who has directed musicals before like Rob Marshall (‘Chicago’), but would you have ever guessed that we would see a musical directed by Clint Eastwood… yes, the Clint Eastwood, the same man known for directing movies such as ‘Unforgiven’ and ‘Million Dollar Baby’. That alone made me interested in seeing this film. And I have to say that for a movie that’s currently getting rather mixed reviews right now and one that wasn’t too big of a hit at the box office during its first weekend, I thoroughly enjoyed it. While I do have some minor issues with the film’s length, I found the film to be very enjoyable and while it may sort of be your typical musical ‘biopic’, it benefits heavily from some great music, a good cast, and a pretty laid-back pace.

It all started in 1953 in Newark, New Jersey when Tommy DeVito (Vincent Piazza), a native of the area who constantly found himself getting into trouble with the police, forms a band called ‘The Variety Trio’ with his brother Nick and their friend Nick Massi (Michael Lomenda). Around that same time, Tommy befriends Frankie Valli (John Lloyd Young), taking him under his wing and eventually letting him join the group where he ends up taking the place of Tommy’s brother. However, the three-man band continues to find little success up until they recruit a fourth member, singer/songwriter Bob Gaudio (Erich Bergen), change their name to the ‘Four Seasons’, and sign a contract deal. While at first they find themselves as back-up singers, they soon release a couple of number one hits, including ‘Sherry’ and ‘Walk Like a Man’, propelling them to superstardom. However, the relationships between the four members of the group start to become strained after it is revealed that Tommy is in serious debt having owed $150,000 to a loan shark.

The film does take a little bit to get going, about twenty minutes or so, but once the four main guys actually get together, that was when the film really started to pick up. I do sort of feel like the movie was ultimately just a little bit too long, but at the same time, there wasn’t really any instances where I started to get bored because I was really getting into the film. I felt that the four main guys had a really nice camaraderie/group dynamic, which really shows in regards to the music, which of course is fantastic. Call me an old-timer all you want, but I just love this kind of music and while the movie is sort of more focused on the behind-the-scenes developments of the group rather than their music, I guarantee you that this movie has its fair share of toe-tapping musical moments. I’ve heard a lot of critics say that this film could’ve had a bit more faster pace but I did kind of like that the film went at a pretty relaxing speed. For the record, I haven’t seen the musical itself so I don’t know the kind of pacing that it had compared to the film and yes, this film’s pacing probably is the main reason why I did feel that the movie went on just a bit longer than it needed to be but again, I didn’t think that the movie was ‘overlong’, per se.

Aside from Vincent Piazza as Tommy DeVito, pretty much every member of the main cast were all stage actors who had played these roles before, whether on Broadway or on national tours. Most notably John Lloyd Young returns to the role of Frankie Valli having originated the role when the musical first debuted, which won him a Tony in 2006. Some might say that because of this, the actors give off a bit too much of a ‘Broadway’ vibe but overall I think they all did a really good job. As I said earlier, Young, Piazza, Bergen, and Lomenda have a great camaraderie and they all did a great job performance-wise with the music. I won’t go as far as to choose the ‘standout’ of the four, though I will say that out of the four guys, I liked Young and Bergen the most in regards to their performances, not because these two are probably focused on the most in regards to the members of the group, but because I found that both came off as being pretty likable. Christopher Walken also has a nice minor role in this as Gyp DeCarlo, a mob boss with whom Frankie and Tommy have a good relationship with. He’s only in the movie for a few scenes, but of course, he’s Christopher Walken and he commands the stage whenever he’s on-screen.

I never thought that we would ever see Clint Eastwood direct a musical, but now he has and overall I’d say that it turned out to be pretty good. I’ve never seen the actual Broadway musical so I can’t say whether or not this movie is faithful to it, but I still found it to be an entertaining movie. Not only did I love the music, but I did actually like the fact that this movie didn’t try to speed through everything and that it had a pretty nice relaxing laid-back pace. And while I do feel that the movie was just a little bit too long, I’m not going to hold that against it because while the film did take a little bit to get going, after twenty minutes or so I was really getting into it and that is because I felt that the four main guys were really good and I found the story of the ‘Four Seasons’ to be pretty interesting, though I am aware that because this is a dramatization of their story, not all of what happened in this movie is ‘true’. Still, I do recommend this film, especially if you love this kind of music. It’s not exactly doing well right now at the box office though I do want to note when I did see this movie, the theater that I saw it in was actually packed so this film at least does have an audience though if you haven’t seen it yet, it’s worth checking out.

Rating: 4/5