In our continuing series on possibly Oscar nominees, guest writer maerit_vs_movies has a look at The Prom.
Emma is a high school student living in Indiana who isn’t allowed to bring her girlfriend to prom after the PTA votes against it. Meanwhile, four self-centered and unemployed Broadway actors decide to support a cause to boost their public image. They find out about Emma and together with their publicist they travel to Indiana to help her out.
This movie is based on a Broadway musical and it’s definitely for musical lovers. The choreography is good and the songs are pretty catchy even though the lyrics aren’t that sophisticated. The dialogue isn’t too well written either. There are some attempts at comedy but the film isn’t very funny.
However, it’s joyful, glittery and over the top, as one might expect from a musical movie, while it also deals with serious issues such as the kind of discrimination and prejudice that members of the LGBTQ+ community still face. This is balanced pretty well, but even if all the main characters are given a little bit of backstory, it comes at the cost of not digging too deep into anything, which means the film sometimes feels a bit shallow. Still, the ending is very sweet and quite moving.
The performances are good, and Andrew Rannells, Kerry Washington and Jo Ellen Pellman are great. So is Nicole Kidman, even though she could have been given more to work with. James Corden is a good enough actor but his portrayal of the gay stage actor Barry sometimes feels like a caricature. Also, he shares a lot of scenes with Meryl Streep and she’s totally out of his league acting-wise.
The premise of this movie is great and really interesting and if musicals are your cup of tea, you might enjoy this one.
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