The Prom
Starring Meryl Streep, James Corden, Nicole Kidman, Jo Ellen Pellman
Directed by Ryan Murphy
I'm a huge fan of musicals, I love how much time and dedication is put into making choreography pitch perfect and how infectious and memorable the songs are. I still have "The Greatest Showman" playing on my music almost daily, and still hail it as one of the best modern musicals I've seen. However, as often as there's great musicals, there's others that not only fall incredibly short, but also become sheer abominations - and as we all know, I'm referring to "Cats" from 2019. "The Prom" - another Broadway musical - was the most recent musical-turned-film, and while it's not as bad as "Cats," it's nowhere near "The Greatest Showman." The film has some catchy song and dance numbers, the choreography is mostly on point, and the performances are fun, but it felt very disjointed and repetitive, and would've fared better if it had cut at least thirty minutes off its two-hour runtime.
Famed stage stars Dee Dee Allen (Meryl Streep) and Barry Glickman (James Corden) are shocked to learn that their latest stage musical - focusing on Eleanor Roosevelt - was canceled after opening night. Seen as too snobby and narcissistic, Dee Dee and Barry - along with perpetual backup dancer Angie Dickinson (Nicole Kidman) and recent Julliard graduate Trent Oliver (Andrew Rannells) - decide to reshape their image by championing a cause.
This cause comes from a small town in Indiana, where local PTA leader Mrs. Greene (Kerry Washington) canceled the school's prom since student Emma Nolan (Jo Ellen Pellman) wanted to bring her girlfriend to the prom. High school principal Tom Hawkins (Keegan-Michael Key) wants to help Emma out, and word spread over Twitter about their plight, drawing the attention of the stage stars who make their way to small town Indiana with their liberal views to change the minds of the masses to make them believe that being gay is great and they're just intolerant - but as they spend more time in the town, they learn more about themselves and how to be truly giving and caring in the process.
Ryan Murphy has been known for creating some of television's most iconic recent hits, including "Glee" and "American Horror Story," and "The Prom" is one of his first feature film directorial works, and obviously he returns to the "Glee" well to pull out all the stops to produce a lavish, colorful, lively, colorful, fun, colorful (seriously, this film is REALLY colorful) production, and the result is a mixed bag. The film does thrive heavily on its colorful (again) set pieces and backgrounds, and are absolutely wonderful to behold, and the costume designs as well are bright, lavish, and...wait for it...colorful, and those add as excellent window-dressing to the story at hand.
The song and dance numbers are hit and miss, but none really fall totally flat, just unmemorable. The only songs that really resonated with me was "Just Breathe," "Dance With You," and especially "Unruly Heart" (all of which were performed mostly by newcomer Jo Ellen Pellman), and the choreography was acceptable enough, if not something that would've worked really well back when "High School Musical" first took off. In a sense its a nice throwback to the musicals of the oughts, but I don't think that's the direction they wanted to take with it.
When it comes to the performances, again, it's a mixed bag. Jo Ellen Pellman is a true revelation, a young newcomer who brings Emma to life in a unique, personal, and resonating way, and whose voice is angelic and powerful. Meryl Streep is pure Meryl Streep, who seemingly thoroughally enjoys relishing in this type of role that she's known for, and also makes lighthearted jabs at herself as an actress and how others perceive them (especially when she talks about awards shows and how they hardly ever give awards based on actual merit). Nicole Kidman does well enough, and even though she nailed it in "Moulin Rouge," she doesn't give the same punch in her few song numbers here. Keegan-Michael Key pretty much exists in the background, and Kerry Washington plays the traditional straight-laced, no-nonsense, Bible-thumping Midwestern mother so effortlessly that she probably slept-walked through most of it. Then there's James Corden, who is the human equivalent of the film - disjointed. Most of the time he plays the gay character totally off-the-rails in a way that becomes grating, but then there's tender, emotional moments that really have you feeling for his character.
The message of the film is obviously timely and important, as it sheds light on individualism, the importance of being yourself, understanding other peoples' journeys, and accepting people for who they are. In a time now where people are at each others' throats and living in constant fear and anxiety, "The Prom" really is a necessity to allow us to sit back and appreciate the real things we have in life, and enjoying it for all its worth, instead of dwelling on the negative aspects of the world. While it takes awhile to get there, the ending is more than worth it, and will easily leave a big smile on your face - if only it was delivered thirty minutes earlier.
The Score: B+
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