Review: The untidy heart of “Dear Evan Hansen”

The movie is more about feeling than thinking anyway. Although Platt’s facial expressions, too often in close-up and under blazing lights, are unsettling to see with all that makeup, each crack of his voice, each tremor of his hand, make Evan achingly real. His mellifluous voice is sometimes too big for the school hallways and suburban houses the movie confines it to, as are the emotions expressed in the devastating score. The melodrama of the story is perhaps better suited to the stage. And yet the raw feeling that Platt brings to every note he sings is a revelation.

The rest of the cast bring varying degrees of singing ability to their roles. Adams, Pino, and Dever give a stirring performance of “Requiem,” in which they each grieve Connor in their own separate ways, a beautifully edited sequence that emphasizes each family member’s isolated sorrow. Amandla Stenberg, as overachieving classmate Alana, has a pretty if not terribly rich voice; she co-wrote her solo, “The Anonymous Ones,” for the film with Justin Paul and Benj Pasek, the musical’s composers. But as far as singing goes, the movie belongs to Platt (as it should).

There are few pieces of modern culture that portray teenage mental illness as heartrendingly and authentically as Dear Evan Hansen does. The song “Waving Through a Window,” a gorgeously heartfelt solo number that shows off Platt’s ringing falsetto, captures the feeling of social isolation with astonishing resonance.

Other songs, like “You Will Be Found,” give voice to the secret yearnings for connection that live in all of us. The song is Evan’s speech at a memorial assembly for Connor, a speech that may originate in lies but nonetheless touches on Evan’s truth and speaks to the loneliness every heart carries. His speech goes viral, and we see Evan’s classmates and people around the world connecting to it—a swelling chorus of voices that sing, “You are not Alone,” a million tiny screens of clicks and shares that form a picture of Connor. Is it corny? Yes. Is it also poignant and lovely? Absolutely.

Then, in tearjerker “Words Fail,” Evan lays all his deepest insecurities and darkest secrets bare, confessing both to his tangle of lies and to the self-loathing and desperation that brought him there. As he did on Broadway, Platt gives that number his voice-breaking, sobbing all, singing, “I’d rather pretend I’m something better than / These broken parts / Pretend I’m something other than / This mess that I am.”

Evan’s vulnerability and sorrow-filled beating heart shine through all that ridiculous makeup and leave you with a beautifully moving portrayal of mental illness.