Movie Breakdown: The Prom
Pre-Screening Stance:
I have to admit that my level of excitement for The Prom isn’t particularly high. The Ryan Murphy (Glee) musical very much looks like something that has a good chance of being wildly overdone, and that sounds exhausting. Fingers crossed that isn’t the case.
Post-Screening Ramble:
The Prom has a lot going on. It’s somewhat centered around Emma (Jo Ellen Pellman), a young woman whose prom has been canceled because she openly stated that she intended to bring her girlfriend. There’s also four Broadway performers – Dee Dee (Meryl Streep), Barry (James Corden), Angie (Nicole Kidman) and Trent (Andrew Rannells) – who are trying to bring light to Emma’s plight in an attempt to garner some much needed PR for themselves. And there’s Emma’s girlfriend, Alyssa (Ariana DeBose), who has not yet told anyone she’s gay. And the school’s principle, Tom (Keegan-Michael Key), a sympathetic figure that’s trying to rally people to Emma’s side. And there’s a pissy parent, Mrs. Green (Kerry Washington), who does not want there to be an all-inclusive prom. I think that’s it? Anyhow, this thing (an adaptation of a Broadway musical with the same name) is jam-packed with plot(s), characters, songs and everything else. It is, as I feared it would be, pretty overdone, but I actually did have a pretty good time with it. I liked the majority of the songs, the choreography is fun, and the cast is all-around pretty solid. I will say that the middle part of the movie does drag quite a bit, as it gets bogged down trying to move its numerous threads forward, but everything around that stretch has a nice pop to it.
If you hate musicals, you probably shouldn’t have even read this review. What are you doing?
If you love musicals, I think The Prom is worth seeing. It’s not going to blow your mind, but its candy coating is thick enough to make up for its rough spots. It’s set to be released on Netflix this Friday.
One Last Thought:
James Corden’s performance in this seems to be universally hated (one comment I saw even referred to it as “gayface”), but I didn’t think it was that bad. Then again, I don’t know a single time I’ve ever really enjoyed anything from him, so my bar may already be too low.
