In which the Mister and Monsters join me in reviewing DEAR EVAN HANSEN (2021). The film, directed by Stephen Chbosky and screenplay credit to Steven Levenson, is based on the musical stage play with music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. The film adaptation of the Tony and Grammy Award-winning musical, DEAR EVAN HANSEN, follows the story of Evan Hansen (Ben Platt), a young man with deep social anxiety and possible other issues, who is trying to navigate his senior year and keep his head above water. One day, a letter assignment from his therapist winds up in someone else's hands and this begins a chain of events that seem to snowball out of Evan's control and an initial act of compassion spins into something that he eventually has to decide to face up to. A strong ensemble that includes Julianne Moore, Kaitlyn Dever, Amy Adams, Danny Pino, Amandla Stenberg, Colton Ryan and Nik Dodani make this a MUST WATCH. The film has a run time of 2 h 17 m, is rated PG-13 and is currently streaming on HBO Max . Please note there are SPOILERS in this review.
Opening intro music: GOAT by Wayne Jones, courtesy of YouTube Audio Library.
