Didn’t really know what to expect when I clicked on ‘The Prom’ on my Netflix menu. I knew it was a musical, and I knew there were controversies for casting James Corden in a gay character. But that’s about it. I have no idea what the story was about.
At the start I found Meryl Streep’s Dee Dee Allen was extremely annoying. It was so over the top and just plain em…annoying. James Corden’s Barry seemed completely fish out of the water. I know he is a triple threat so in the opening number I was just thinking ‘what is happening here?’
Then as the story progressed, everything made sense. Dee Dee Allen was meant to be annoying and Barry was really out of the water (being had only won an obscure award that even Dee Dee had no idea what it was even with her substantial experience in the industry). Then came Nicole Kidman’s Angie and Andrew Rannells’ Trent. Trent existence was still justifiable as he has been bar tending for years waiting for the next gig after his stint on a TV sitcom. But how Nicole’s Angie came to know Barry and Dee Dee were totally unexplored. I mean Angie was a chorus girl for years and Dee Dee didn’t even know who Trent was after he had bar tended for her for some time, how would Dee Dee remember and know Angie when as Angie said she is still a nobody after years in the industry? The whole opening of the ‘The Prom’ was quite confusing for someone who came in to watch it without any background.
Anyway, plot holes aside (and there were many more) as the story gears really started moving when the stage moved from New York to Indiana, we found out more about each of the ensemble characters and things made a lot more sense.
To be honest with you, the whole movie had a very strong Glee feel as it was also in a high school setting about a few teenagers’ coming of age and learning about the world. That’s probably director Ryan Murphy’s forte and I did feel that the handling of the high school story was a lot better than the opening scenes, which were supposed to set a strong stage for the movie. If I had not persisted on after what I felt a messy and rushed opening, then I would have missed out all the good bits later.
Without giving away too much in case there are readers who haven’t seen the original Broadway show, ‘The Prom’ basically is about a bunch of misfit performers with their own problems trying to solve their problems via trying to solve other people’s problem. Their ego, their fake visage and their ultimate understanding and redemption, which ultimately worked as a catalyst to solve the major issue in the show’s story was a feel good and time cosey time comfy time corny behemoth.
As a musical show, ‘The Prom’ has some good tunes up its sleeve. I particularly like the song of Alyssa Greene, the song by Trent about selective Biblical teaching was also good and fun, and the shopping song with Barry and Emma was great too. Each character has his or her signature song and mostly they fit their persona very well and felt they were written for them. The chorus songs were energetic and the choreography that went with them were also fitting and spectacular. It was not a bad production at all and each of the star cast did its best to make it work.
That said though, sometimes I did think it was a waste of the cast as at times I felt that apart from Meryl’s Dee Dee, all other characters were there to just provide occasional support. Surely James Corden, Nicole Kidman, Andrew Rannell they all gave their all, but the thin characterisation, maybe apart from the brief reveal of James’ Barry’s past, did not give their performance justice. It feels like the whole thing is tipped. Maybe it was not about the ensemble but then it presented itself as an ensemble piece, so that kind of tipping in character development was a bit strange to me. And also, as I mentioned the messy and rush opening of the film did really test your patience and persistence, and if you really hated it and switch it off, you missed out all the good bits later.
In all, I did enjoy ‘The Prom’ despite my initial disappointment and I am glad that I persisted. However, I do feel that a more balanced approach to the story and character development could help it to achieve a much better standing among similar titles.
