The Prom Review
Dec. 12th, 2020 11:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatFinished watching The Prom [Netflix] - directed by Ryan Murphy, which got mixed reviews.
I didn't find it all that entertaining. Uplifting yes, in places. And I can see why Murphy fell in love with the musical. But...it doesn't really work as a film.
For one thing, it's almost too small. And the satire - is mostly "theater" or "stage" satire - and it's heavily over-the-top, which works on the stage, it does not work on the small screen.
A lot of Broadway shows don't translate well to the screen - they work best on stage - for a reason. The stage is more intimate. The song and dance numbers have an energy and vibrancy that is lacking onscreen. And it matters less - if people can sing really well, dance well, or for that matter if the songs are hummable or amazing. Live theater can be charming based on the performances alone.
Screen? Not so much.
I'd read that James Gordon was horrible. He's not. Boring, yes, horrible no.
But so is everyone else. The best acts are performed by Nicole Kidman and the young guy from Book of Mormon, and Boys in the Band. And neither are that memorable. You know you have a problem when a main lyric is "Love Your Neighbor Trumps Them All".
It's not the actors fault, they do the best they can with the material provided. It's just not that strong to serve them. And I honestly think Murphy would have been better off keeping it small and casting Broadway stars in the lead roles - such as Nathan Lane or Harvy Fienstein and Patti Lupon. Both Streep and Gordon feel horribly miscast. Streep mugs a lot.
The plot? A young girl wants to take her girl friend to the Prom. But the head of the PTA puts a kibbush on it. Meanwhile a group of Broadway Stars, coming off a flop, and in between gigs, need something to boost their star power and give them good publicity - so they hunt around, and find out that this poor girl can't take her girlfriend to Prom in Indiana. Righteously enraged, and seeing a great photo op - they rush to Indiana and attempt to fix things. They make them worse. The PTA and Prom Committee shifts the prom to another location, without telling them, so the young girl (Emma) ends up standing alone. Upset by this turn of events, they go about trying to put on an inclusive Prom, and Emma figures out how to stand up for herself, while the others find ways to reach out to the naysayers.
I think it would be a touching and amazing theaterical experience. But on television? It was boring. The songs came out kind of stale. And I was able to dwell a bit too long on poorly worded lyrics and haphazardly choreographed dance numbers.
I honestly think I'd have enjoyed it a little more on the stage. OTOH, I don't know. The plot is a bit sketchy. I mean I remember Prom - I didn't go, but other people did and they went with friends. I know a lot of folks with went with friends of the same sex back in the 1980s. And this was in Kansas. They may not have come across as romantically involved, but you can't always tell. Also, I admittedly don't understand and never have understood why people care about Prom. (My niece doesn't even have one at her school. And has no clue what it is nor has ever mentioned it. My brother went but didn't care. I worked on Prom Committee - painting things, mainly as something to do and we got out of class one day if we did it. But outside of touring the set up with my mother, I didn't go. I went to dances in college.)
So..I can't really relate all that well to the story. That said, I think it would work well on stage or in repertory theater. But it does not work as a movie.
At any rate, I was bored and my attention kept wandering. I had to rewind a Meryl Streep song and dance number three times - because I kept losing interest during it and missing it. Streep does the number to seduce the Principle, who she has no chemistry with. None.
I'd skip and watch "Happiest Season" on Hulu instead.
[Oh as an aside, my Aerogarden sun light automatically went off. I was worried that it wouldn't but it did! Yay!]
[In other television news, or rather streaming. The trailers for Fate: The Winx Saga (which is a Netflix series about a Fairy Magic School based on an Italian Cartoon) and Loki on Disney + looks really interesting. And I find myself looking forward to both.
Even though Netflix has gone up in price, I can't stop watching it. Damn it.
I didn't find it all that entertaining. Uplifting yes, in places. And I can see why Murphy fell in love with the musical. But...it doesn't really work as a film.
For one thing, it's almost too small. And the satire - is mostly "theater" or "stage" satire - and it's heavily over-the-top, which works on the stage, it does not work on the small screen.
A lot of Broadway shows don't translate well to the screen - they work best on stage - for a reason. The stage is more intimate. The song and dance numbers have an energy and vibrancy that is lacking onscreen. And it matters less - if people can sing really well, dance well, or for that matter if the songs are hummable or amazing. Live theater can be charming based on the performances alone.
Screen? Not so much.
I'd read that James Gordon was horrible. He's not. Boring, yes, horrible no.
But so is everyone else. The best acts are performed by Nicole Kidman and the young guy from Book of Mormon, and Boys in the Band. And neither are that memorable. You know you have a problem when a main lyric is "Love Your Neighbor Trumps Them All".
It's not the actors fault, they do the best they can with the material provided. It's just not that strong to serve them. And I honestly think Murphy would have been better off keeping it small and casting Broadway stars in the lead roles - such as Nathan Lane or Harvy Fienstein and Patti Lupon. Both Streep and Gordon feel horribly miscast. Streep mugs a lot.
The plot? A young girl wants to take her girl friend to the Prom. But the head of the PTA puts a kibbush on it. Meanwhile a group of Broadway Stars, coming off a flop, and in between gigs, need something to boost their star power and give them good publicity - so they hunt around, and find out that this poor girl can't take her girlfriend to Prom in Indiana. Righteously enraged, and seeing a great photo op - they rush to Indiana and attempt to fix things. They make them worse. The PTA and Prom Committee shifts the prom to another location, without telling them, so the young girl (Emma) ends up standing alone. Upset by this turn of events, they go about trying to put on an inclusive Prom, and Emma figures out how to stand up for herself, while the others find ways to reach out to the naysayers.
I think it would be a touching and amazing theaterical experience. But on television? It was boring. The songs came out kind of stale. And I was able to dwell a bit too long on poorly worded lyrics and haphazardly choreographed dance numbers.
I honestly think I'd have enjoyed it a little more on the stage. OTOH, I don't know. The plot is a bit sketchy. I mean I remember Prom - I didn't go, but other people did and they went with friends. I know a lot of folks with went with friends of the same sex back in the 1980s. And this was in Kansas. They may not have come across as romantically involved, but you can't always tell. Also, I admittedly don't understand and never have understood why people care about Prom. (My niece doesn't even have one at her school. And has no clue what it is nor has ever mentioned it. My brother went but didn't care. I worked on Prom Committee - painting things, mainly as something to do and we got out of class one day if we did it. But outside of touring the set up with my mother, I didn't go. I went to dances in college.)
So..I can't really relate all that well to the story. That said, I think it would work well on stage or in repertory theater. But it does not work as a movie.
At any rate, I was bored and my attention kept wandering. I had to rewind a Meryl Streep song and dance number three times - because I kept losing interest during it and missing it. Streep does the number to seduce the Principle, who she has no chemistry with. None.
I'd skip and watch "Happiest Season" on Hulu instead.
[Oh as an aside, my Aerogarden sun light automatically went off. I was worried that it wouldn't but it did! Yay!]
[In other television news, or rather streaming. The trailers for Fate: The Winx Saga (which is a Netflix series about a Fairy Magic School based on an Italian Cartoon) and Loki on Disney + looks really interesting. And I find myself looking forward to both.
Even though Netflix has gone up in price, I can't stop watching it. Damn it.
no subject
Date: 2020-12-13 08:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-12-14 02:52 am (UTC)I don't know anyone who liked it. And I appear to be the only one who made it all the way through it...