Unofficial Academy Awards Discussion Board

Interesting disparity between critics and audiences on this one.

DEAR EVAN HANSEN
PG-13 2021, Musical/Drama, 2h 17m
36%
TOMATOMETER
114 Reviews
91%
AUDIENCE SCORE
50+ Verified Ratings

Apparently they're releasing (in select theaters) a version that de-ages Ben Platt.

And re, To Kill A Mockingbird: I think that they very intentionally cast adult actors in the kids roles because the play was conceived as a memory piece, and it was always meant to feature adult actors in those roles. I may be wrong though.

I find it interesting that Peter Debruge could write a middling-at-best review of Dear Evan Hansen and still say it was better than the Broadway musical, which dominated its years Tony Awards. Could it be that there are so few Broadway openings in any given year that all the competition is to open on Broadway, and, once something opens it has much less competition to go all the way and win the Tony Award, even if it is fairly mediocre? Also, with the comments about Ben Platt's age, it appears that age appropriateness of actors is much less an issue for Broadway than the movies. After all, Platt comes off as a triviality compared to Celia Keenan-Bolger, who as a 40-year-old woman, won a Tony for playing the pre-teen Scout in To Kill A Mockingbird.

We're looking at a lot of DOA musicals this year. But this one is done, as if the trailer didn't tip us off.

https://www.indiewire.com/2021/09/dear- ... 234663547/
https://deadline.com/2021/09/dear-evan- ... 234830005/

Peter Debruge finds it an improvement over the musical but still damns it with faint praise.
https://variety.com/2021/film/reviews/d ... 235059668/