• The Prom (film)

3/17/21 (Wed)

The idea of The Prom was promising: a group of down-and-out actors looking for publicity decide to stage a protest in Hicksville (played here by Indiana), where a lesbian has effectively been kept from taking her lover to the school prom. I thought it was going to be a spoof on overzealous leftists and their any-cause-will-do attitude, and it starts off lively enough. But it quickly devolves into the usual flaccid material, a plodding story about identity and let’s-love-each-other and be-true-to-yourself platitudes. Yuck. The opening is full of inside jokes that might appeal to a thin slice of theater people, but it’s a bit full of itself and gets old quickly. Of course the gay actor (James Corden) had issues with his mother. Of course the big star (Meryl Streep) was poor and lonely as a child. Of course the lesbian student (Jo Ellen Pellman) has been kicked out by her parents. And so on and so forth. Doesn’t anyone in these films lead a normal, trouble-free life? And those various stories are all resolved in the most treacly, tear-jerking ways possible. It was especially sad to see Tracey Ullman trotted out for three minutes as James Corden’s mother in a sappy reconciliation scene – what a waste of two great comedians.

Also, I don’t know that they needed to knock the entire Midwest or Christianity to prove their point (though at least they didn’t use the South as usual); there’s a whole song about the hypocrisy of the Bible. I’m not Christian and don’t have a lot of sympathy for Bible thumpers, but I’m not wild about Bible slammers either. The whole thing was so blunt that it was unpleasant. (Check out “It Ain’t Necessarily So” for how to do it right.) It shows the bubble that the creators, performers and producers are locked in. What could have been a fun parody of do-gooders was just another self-celebration of sophisticated liberals versus Neanderthal knuckle-dragging gay-hating country folk. I don’t know who they think they’re convincing here, but their smug attitude is why I avoid US films. One of the two book writers, Bob Martin, was responsible for the fun Drowsy Chaperone some years back, and that may have set my expectations too high. I was basically expecting George S Kaufman but got sitcom.

The lyrics could be fun, and an inspired idea sometimes burst through. But they were overly reliant on self-consciously clever rhymes and theatrical trivia, which became wearing. The pop music isn’t worth mentioning other than to say it’s par for the 21st-century Broadway course. What were they thinking with that awful parody of Chicago? The idea is great, and it worked for the first 30 seconds. But the humor depended simply on recognizing the show – “Ha-ha, look, that’s Chicago” – and a few Fosse-like moves. Is that enough to please the theater queens who are presumably drawn to this show? The bad music in recent musicals is often offset by a strong book that makes it all worth it, like Wicked or Dear Evan Hansen. No such luck here.

None of the performers distinguished themselves here, unsurprising given the material. Streep was on cruise control in the diva role, while Corden seemed to be holding back on the feyness. Nicole Kidman, Andrew Rannells and Keegan-Michael Key were passable.

The stage musical is playing in Japan right now, and I was asked if I was interested in going. Not any more. What a disappointment.