We Have Thoughts on Dear Evan Hansen...

Crossover review with Jess McAnally of ‪@MusicalswithCheese‬!! Wave through a window with us as we review the film adaptation of DEAR EVAN HANSEN.
Dear Evan Hansen - What's it About? • Dear Evan Hansen - Wha...
Dear Evan Hansen Theatrely Review www.theatrely....
Musicals with Cheese musicalswithch...
Dear Friends Podcast dearfriendspod...
Become a Patron!
/ stealingfocus

[@beetrisrubis]

Fun fact, in the book is revealed that evan's full name is "Mark Evan Hansen" so the initials letters together form "MEH" he even jokes about it a million times in the book. Maybe this should have been the title of the movie

[@gracekelley2907]

THERES A BOOK!?!?

[@thisisnotcsy]

MEH

[@maddiemaccheese8170]

STOP that's everything 😭😭 I don't care if it's cap it's real in my heart

[@maevemonroe]

Learning about the honorary title of "The MILF brigade" for Amy Adams and Julianne Moore was the only joy I found in the movie of Dear Evan Hansen.

[@DieHardAlien]

Who wouldn't create an honorary title like that for the likes of Amy Adams and Julianne Moore (for different reasons no doubt)?

[@HenryKathman]

I too feel like every teen Edit: I am loving Emily’s righteous anger at the songs of this novie

[@oliviabrandi5347]

Now I’m going to have, “A metaphor that I repeat in bridge!” In my head all day 🤣🤣🤣 Loved this episode! 🥰

[@rogue7723]

_Best_ original _Stealing Focus_ song since "The Age Of Being An Edgelord".

[@nerdoftheatre]

I do have social anxiety and, when I was dealing with the worst parts of my social anxiety, I definitely related to Waving Through a Window. I think it could relate in multiple ways, but I don't think it is just about social media. But that song is the ONE thing I think it represents correctly with social anxiety. But I absolutely dislike this musical and how it deals with mental illness. (Especially how Evan does not receive any consequences and deflects any negativity with his anxiety.) It just seems like the writers had a message and fumbled it in every single way. And then, by trying to fix it, they somehow fix it AND make it worse in the movie. I'm also absolutely still salty that DEH got all those Tonys over CFA and Great Comet. Still mad about that one. But I'm also equally mad about both the plot (seriously? Evan couldn't have written that letter on his phone and not a public computer?) and its treatment of mental illnesses.`

[@queen-monarch]

@Rebecca Woolf Why couldn't he just email it?

[@Flareontoast]

I also relate to that song as someone who is autistic and has mental illnesses. Totally agree that Evan is let off way too unscathed after his spiel.

[@finleyforevermore]

In all honesty, the DEH movie adaption should've been without music, and they should have used more content from the book. EDIT: Also, they could've gotten an Oscar for "A Little Closer" and kept in "Disappear"! EDIT 2: Actually, "Words Fail" in the musical is slightly different than described here. Cynthia actually interjects through spoken words a few times during the start, in a similar fashion to "For Forever". And Evan doesn't just stand in front of the Murphys. The Murphys actually leave the dining room, and Larry gives Evan a dirty glare, leaving Evan alone with the audience with leads into the "This was just a sad invention..." part and so on until the end of the song.

[@jamesanthony5874]

You know, I really love that idea of giving the puppet a broken arm to explain why only one arm is moving .lol.

[@CinemageddonReviews]

I finally finished the video. This was all great and kind of mirrors my thoughts on the movie as well. After cranking out an exhausting 50 minute long video criticizing the stage musical, the movie definitely feels like the lesser of two evils, but where the movie has elements that are better, it still feels like putting a band aid on a brain tumor. It hides some problems, but the biggest problems are still there.

[@princkleminckle1159]

Describing Jared in the stage version as a strictly heterosexual incel is absolutely golden 😭

[@LaFemmeFictionale]

Jess, you cannot keep coming up with drinking games, my liver cannot handle it!

[@MusicalswithCheese]

BWAHAHA!

[@SnakeandBake1]

Gerald is amazing as Evan Hansen way more life like than Ben Platt

[@jahnavikishore8066]

When Emily said Pasek and Paul should just write stand alone Cabaret songs: that’s Edges! Their very first duo composition was a song cycle of more or less stand alone stories, and tbh I still think it’s their best work

[@peblezQ]

I lost my mind when y'all did the little For Forever parody xD

[@rogue7723]

This movie would be better if during the scene of Evan running through the trees they had that shot of Gerald imitating Evan. 😅

[@10verNothin]

When I hear "You Will Be Found" on youtube: oh this is so nice, actually brings me to tears When I saw "You Will Be Found" performed in the musical: oh. That feeling, is betrayal. Edit: also best song is Requiem because it's actually pierces through the conceit of the entire show. Like, this is what YWBF wanted to be.

[@maxleunig4072]

Y'know, I saw they made a tie-in book to the musical where Connor had his own sub-plot being a ghost that had to learn how much of an asshole he was and save Evan from a suicide attempt he was gonna make after telling the truth to the Murphys. I think with better direction, and with Evan either given a reduced or cut role, told from Connor's perspective it could have been a touching story about learning to accept the mistakes he made in his brief life, giving one final message to his family to say "I love you" before moving on to the other side. A bit like Ghost, but for teens.

[@rogue7723]

I would’ve _vastly preferred_ a musical about that story.

[@lillianward2810]

I like the theory that Jenny Nicholson raised, that because of how many of the ensemble numbers they cut it then feels like Evan is the only person singing most of the time that he is actively and literally the only person in a musical and is just singing at these befuddled people IRL.

[@cloama]

The Great EGOT Chase of 2021

[@patriciomejia1114]

Honestly, I think that Stepehn Chbosky was ironically both the best director and the worst director for this sort of material. For those who don't know, Stephen Chbosky was the author of the book, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and later the director of the movie adaptation. This story also deals with mental illness and isolation, and both the book and the movie handled the subject matter very well (at least in my opinion). However, the movie adaptation is made mostly as an indie film and almost no musical numbers. The only musical numbers in that movie are from the Rocky Horror Picture Show shadowcast, but those are diegetic numbers rather than non-diegetic. In short, Stephen Chbosky can work with mental illness as a subject matter, but I don't think that he is necessarily great with musicals.

[@drennyvision6141]

And you didn't even hit on the messaging of suicide and 100,000$ and not having consequences to his crazy behavior.

[@jenniferschillig3768]

Glad that you mentioned the upcoming West Side Story. I've been wanting to hear your thoughts on the trailer.

[@chrismcgovern1647]

7:58 🤣🤣🤣 your song, Emily!

[@CinemageddonReviews]

Oooooo boy, let’s do this!

[@ToruKun1]

The bit at 23:06 is better than the actual movie

[@rogue7723]

I’d pay _real money_ if they made that a movie.

[@Wintermute01001]

52:38 Emily describes Cousin Skeeter on Nickelodeon

[@sirjedisentinel]

I haven't seen a musical film try this hard to lie about a character's age since they put every shot of Lucille Ball in soft focus

[@stephenr3910]

@Rebecca Woolf in Mame they did that for Lucy.

[@CraftyMagicDollz]

No matter how many videos i watch of yours, i can't get over the fact that in 2002, i told my boyfriend about something on his laptop stealing focus from another program, and he was like "woah, that's a crazy concept with a wild name" and i said "Yeah, Stealing Focus is officially the band name for the band I'm totally never going to start one day." I can't get over the fact that someone else saw the same awesomeness of this wierd computer terminology and really did use it for a channel name. Y'all are awesome people... But i still reserve the rights to the name for the band I'm never going to start. After all, i called dibs. :-P

[@chrismcgovern1647]

I know this isn't the topic, but Cody looks just like you in this video!

[@StealingFocus]

Hahah thank you, I love that! No one ever thinks we look related.

[@jenniferschillig3768]

"All the songs sound the same" is the reason I couldn't get into The Greatest Showman's score, either. I've always liked A Christmas Story's score the best of all of Pasek and Paul's so far. (Judge it on the cast album and/or the stage version, not the misbegotten live version.)

[@CraftyMagicDollz]

Holy hell, the Greatest Showman had such great music. I'm so sorry you didn't get into it, because it was totally worth watching.

[@Chuman1898]

Get so excited to see one of your videos to wake up to!

[@Rognik]

Haven't seen the movie yet, but from what I recall of the staged musical, the second half was kind of boring and the only song from that part that I liked was "Good For You", so I'm sad to hear that cut, but kind of understand why it might be as it's hard to get Evan's mom, Alana and Jared in the same place since there's not really a believable moment they might all be there. And just to clarify, there's no on-stage ensemble. There's the 8 actors, and any accompaniment voices were pre-recorded.

[@GamingSaturnMoonManBoy]

Personally I didn’t think the movie wasn’t that bad I actually cried a few times during the movie

[@gstone8255]

The Book Ready Player One is great !

[@jeffreywillstewart]

And his national ARENA tour dates! Ben will be ok.

[@CatalinaLinal7710]

Am I crazy or does Emily lowkey sound like the German voice actress of Kim Possible at certain points?? Other German people, I need your opinion please

[@beetrisrubis]

Good review very entertaining. I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who disliked this movie so much. I think cinematically the movie is very lazy, it feels like the professionals behind it didn't take a minute of their days to think of a way to tell this story in a meaninfull way. I've seen so many beatifull animatics made by fans of the songs and they are so beautifull and creative. It makes me think that they could have made an animated movie, at least this way they would be able to cast Ben Platt and use his voice without having problems with his appearence.

[@larissabrglum3856]

Maybe I'm biased because I love the medium of animation so much, but I think there are a handful of movies that would have been better as animated features.

[@beetrisrubis]

@@larissabrglum3856 I agree with you, and I'm an animation student so I really think animation has a storytelling language that would be great for musical adaptations

[@henn863]

It seems like you guys dont know how rottentomatoes scores work. 70% of critics are in agreement with you.

[@lindapoplin9961]

Do the reaction to "Annie Live!"

[@finleyforevermore]

7:58

[@MasterKronk7]

Great video, why have I had 5 ads by the 26 minute mark?

[@MasterKronk7]

Ooo, up to 7 by 32

[@MasterKronk7]

9 by 43 I’m gonna keep counting to the end at this point

[@StealingFocus]

Good for you! I'm looking forward to the ad revenue!

[@StealingFocus]

Seriously, do you youtube much? Anyway, thanks for commenting and bumping up my algorithm you smarty smart person yoooooou!

[@MasterKronk7]

@@StealingFocus I see now that the comma may have made the “great video” part sound sarcastic, but I didn’t mean it to. I genuinely enjoy the video just haven’t that many ads in a while and I probably should have separated those thoughts

[@sakunaruful]

Did Cody get contacts?

[@StealingFocus]

Cody goes back and forth between contacts and glasses!

[@sakunaruful]

@@StealingFocus Okay.

[@stephenr3910]

I saw the national tour stage show last week and felt conned by the marketing. I didn't like the story or main character. "You Will Be Found" in the context of the show is repulsive. Not the hopeful anthem they try to push on Macy's parades shows. After "Words Fail" they walk away one by one with disgusted looks and then the Connor ghost walks away, probably upset that Evan told them. I think Zoe says something but I don't remember what. Evan does mention to Zoe he read the Connor books in the orchard scene but they don't show that part. They don't have Connor singing on video for the parents.

[@lindapoplin9961]

23:07

[@lindapoplin9961]

16:40

[@UlrichTheOmega]

Worst casting ever? Worse than Hello, Dolly?

[@StealingFocus]

Yes

[@gstone8255]

Next to Normal is overrated.

[@StealingFocus]

*looks left and right steathily* I kinda agree.

[@TheBiggestMoronYouKnow]

Call the police because that senior is fiiiine 😳 something about him seems real mature 😩

[@StealingFocus]

HAHA!