The Prom Movie Review: Kick Ball Change! Jazz Hands! And Also Meryl Streep!
The Prom is a musical movie on Netflix that is a barrage of colors and famous people singing/dancing. The premise is that a high schooler in Indiana named Emma, played by Jo Ellen Pellman, wants to take her girlfriend to the prom, but the entire school finds out and the PTA would rather cancel prom than allow this to happen. Some Broadway stars that are a bit down on their luck learn about this and decide to go to Indiana to throw their support behind Emma and hopefully get some good publicity out of it. The movie is directed by Ryan Murphy, who creates very hyperrealistic and colorful settings. The characters burst into song every five minutes (probably not literally, but it definitely feels like it), and not every song is that particularly memorable. The whole thing is really cheesy and laugh-out-loud ridiculous, so if you’re into musical movies, you’ll probably enjoy it to some extent. But if you’re particular and cynical about watching quality cinema (which I know I sometimes am), this will probably be too much jazz hands for you.
I personally found this movie to be so-so. When I watched the opening number, I was razzle-dazzled by Meryl Streep, James Cordon, Andrew Rannells, and Nicole Kidman, because…are you kidding me? The talent in the room man…There are so many powerhouse characters that the movie was clearly trying to give each of them a moment (aka a musical number). It felt a little like a showcase from character to character at a point, but the underlying storyline was still definitely about Emma and Alyssa, the two high schoolers. I didn’t really buy their romance because they weren’t shown much together. Maybe it had to do with the fact that the movie was trying to showcase all of the A-list stars LOL. The movie felt long and I was getting a little bored, but I think people don’t really watch this to get sucked into the story. It’s more to enjoy the glitter and the songs, and this movie does the trick.
In terms of characters, I think that Meryl Streep’s character, Dee Dee, is purposefully annoying and ridiculous. But because Meryl Streep plays her, she still steals the show. There’s this one number where she’s dancing and singing in the principal’s (Keegan-Michael Key) office that could have been a major cringe fest, but Streep can make anything look good LMAO. James Cordon played a leading character as well, and I’m so used to him being so undeniably British, that it’s weird to hear him droning in an American accent. It honestly feels pretty forced (or it could be in my mind) - he would really emphasize words and take care not to let the British part of him slip out. It sometimes would still slip out in song though despite his best efforts. I also want to say that I found it really funny that Andrew Rannells’s highlighted song was one that was about religion. I will always associate him with Elder Price in The Book of Mormon so it’s almost like he got type-cast as someone who can sing ridiculous songs about loving God.
In conclusion…
I went into this musical hoping that I would get at least one good song stuck in my head afterwards, and in that sense, I guess I succeeded! “Tonight Belongs to You” is a bop! Other than that, The Prom is a flashy musical movie with too many moving parts to really become addictive. I feel like it tries to be powerful with its message about acceptance, especially towards the end, but it definitely doesn’t back it up with emotional moments or powerful writing, in my opinion. It’s colorful to watch and overly dramatic, and hey, sometimes that’s Broadway!