'The Prom' Review
PG-13: Thematic elements, some suggestive/sexual references, and language
Runtime: 2 Hrs and 11 Minutes
Production Company: Ryan Murphy Productions
Distributor: Netflix
Director: Ryan Murphy
Writers: Chad Beguelin, Bob Martin
Cast: Meryl Streep, James Corden, Nicole Kidman, Keegan-Michael Key, Andrew Rannells, Ariana DeBose, Kerry Washington, Jo Ellen Pellman
Release Date: December 4, 2020 (Theaters) | December 11, 2020 (Netflix)
Dee Dee Allen (Meryl Streep) and Barry Glickman (James Corden) are New York City stage stars with a crisis on their hands: their expensive new Broadway show is a major flop that has suddenly flatlined their careers. Meanwhile, in small-town Indiana, high school student Emma Nolan (Jo Ellen Pellman) is experiencing a very different kind of heartbreak: despite the support of the high school principal (Keegan-Michael Key), the head of the PTA (Kerry Washington) has banned her from attending the prom with her girlfriend, Alyssa (Ariana DeBose). When Dee Dee and Barry decide that Emma's predicament is the perfect cause to help resurrect their public images, they hit the road with Angie (Nicole Kidman) and Trent (Andrew Rannells), another pair of cynical actors looking for a professional lift. But when their self-absorbed celebrity activism unexpectedly backfires, the foursome finds their own lives upended as they rally to give Emma a night where she can truly celebrate who she is.
Ryan Murphy — the living Energizer bunny of modern television who keeps churning content whether we like it or not — is back in the director’s chair, helming a movie for the first time since 2010’s Eat Pray Love. The Prom is a film adaptation of the Tony Award-winning hit musical that debuted in 2018. Murphy is no stranger to musicals and he clearly adores Broadway productions. Like many others, I grew up watching Glee and it was such a significant part of my youth. Be warned, I will mention Glee a lot throughout this review because it’s relevant to both the good and the bad parts of my criticism.
Say what you will about him, but Ryan Murphy knows how to garner great performances from his ensembles. Everyone in The Prom delivers top-notch, charismatic performances, which isn’t too shocking since the cast is loaded with A-listers. Everyone clearly had a good time working on this film and you can feel the infectious energy radiating from the screen.
Needless to say, Meryl Streep is phenomenal. At this point, commenting on how great Meryl Streep is in a movie is the equivalent of saying water is wet. She plays into her character’s egotistical Broadway diva persona so well, but she also reminds us that she has a set of pipes that can give you chills. Dee Dee shares a romance with Indiana high school principal Tom Hawkins (played by Keegan Michael-Key), who also gives his all to his role. The chemistry they share is so damn charming that whenever the limelight is on them, it's impossible to not be swept up in it. They’re that intoxicating.
Stacked cast aside, this film marks the cinematic debut of newcomer Jo Ellen Pellman, who is also amazing. She holds her own amidst the cast of legends and seasoned professionals and exerts a variety of genuine emotions. She has a remarkable singing voice and is a part of several of the best musical numbers in the film. While she has never starred in a major Broadway production, she boasts a musical theater background and has a degree in the field. Her performance in The Prom is bound to launch her into stardom. Her character, Emma, goes through the wringer in her ignorant, conservative Midwestern town and you can truly feel her pain. Emma genuinely made me choke up at certain points, especially when she was navigating through her relationship with her closeted girlfriend Alyssa (Ariana DeBose). I adore everything that revolves around Emma.
Watching The Prom provides major nostalgia because of how much it aesthetically and stylistically resembles Glee. This could be considered a good thing because that familiarity allows fans of the series to have a fun time. That being said, for an adaptation of a Broadway production, it’s way too reserved for its own good. It lacks grandeur, spectacle, and, most of all, ambition. While the last Broadway musical film adaptation was an absolute nightmare (Cats), it was certainly ambitious. From a filmmaking standpoint, The Prom is as basic as you’d expect a Netflix musical feature by Ryan Murphy to be. The production quality resembles an extended episode of Glee but with a slightly bigger budget. Even the cinematography by Academy Award nominee Matthew Libatique never rises above the surface of being just barely cinematic.
Many of the musical numbers are forgettable in terms of choreography, location, and style. I prefer the latter half of the film because the set pieces display genuine imagination and the choreography finally becomes showstopping. Regardless, it takes too long to get there. Oddly enough, the musical sequences set in Emma’s high school bring out Murphy’s best work. It’s as if high school interiors are the only locations he knows how to make use of. When he wants to get “stylish” with his locations during a musical number, he has characters dance in one location, then pans or cuts to a theater stage with characters in costume. This is the same exact technique he used in Glee, but it doesn’t work in The Prom because it only makes you think of how you could be watching Glee instead (which is also on Netflix).
While I enjoy a large portion of the film’s ensemble, there is some terrible miscasting that can’t be overlooked. I love Nicole Kidman. She’s iconic to me. While it’s good to see her in a musical for the first time since Nine, she’s too experienced and talented to play a character who is simply a small-time chorus girl. She does have one great musical number and the friendship she shares with Pellman onscreen is effective, but come on… it’s Nicole Kidman! It’s as hard to buy her as a chorus girl as it was to buy Will Smith as the assassin Deadshot in Suicide Squad.
Now… James Corden, the living fetch of working actors today. I'm at a weird standstill regarding him because, on one hand, this is his best performance in a movie to date. On the other hand, they could’ve cast an actual gay actor who can sing and dance to portray Barry. Kevin Chamberlin is in this movie and he would’ve been a perfect fit for the role. Considering that Barry’s character arc is centered around his gay experience and finding closure and acceptance, James Corden’s gayface is completely performative. While his performance is good, it never feels like anything more than, “please nominate me for a Best Actor performance.” This is a role that deserves authenticity. As openly flamboyant as this character is, it’s a role that can only be executed flawlessly by a gay actor, specifically in his early 50s. It’s not the first time straight actors have played gay dudes — and it’s certainly not going to be the last — but because The Prom is a Ryan Murphy project and he has brought so much visibility to the LGBTQ community in his works, it feels like a major slap to the face. Hey, if James Corden can star in two movies alongside Meryl Streep, anything is possible.
The film’s story as a whole is overstuffed. There are too many characters and the film primarily focuses on humanizing the down-on-their-luck Broadway White liberal saviors more so than Emma. The pacing is bizarre because the script adds so much to Dee Dee and Barry’s arcs that it detracts from the impact of Emma’s story. There comes a point where Emma’s arc becomes secondary to the plot, which is just wrong. Hell, even Alyssa, who is a relatively minor supporting character, is enticing and could’ve been mined for more material.
The Prom tells its timely story of acceptance and kindness in an infectiously entertaining manner. It remains somewhat faithful to its Broadway roots and offers a star-making performance in Jo Ellen Pellman. However, the generic style of filmmaking and lack of inventiveness keeps it from rising above the basic algorithm of a musical.
