Dear Evan Hansen (2021)

Evan is a "nobody" high-school senior with emotional problems/ depression, takes prescription medication for panic attacks and whatever. As part of his counseling/ therapy, his doctor tells him to write letters to himself ("Dear Evan Hansen") and one he writes during school falls into the hands of bully classmate Connor Murphy, who does not give it back. After Connor is absent from school for three days, Evan gets called to the principal's office. Connor's mother and step-father are there and Evan is informed that Connor committed suicide. Connor's parents found the "Dear Evan Hansen" letter and mistakenly believe Evan was best friends with Connor and Connor wrote the letter (suicide note) to Evan. Without the guts or speaking ability to tell the truth, Evan gets caught up in the misunderstanding and eventually "goes along with it", making up stories about his friendship with Connor to help ease Connor's parents' and sister's grief. There's a domino effect with classmates, who try to console Evan and learn more about his friendship with Connor.

The way the story progresses isn't the problem... it is having to deal with Evan's struggles to communicate. Watching him trying to talk to anyone is more painful than watching Kevin Arnold in "Wonder Years" (who was at least several years younger and thereby easier to understand his plight). Maybe if the audience took tranquilizers (or some kind of "chill pills") before watching, it would be less painful.

I never liked musicals ("Grease" being the one exception), but the story seemed interesting and I decided to give it a try. The actor who played Evan was praised for his singing ability, but I didn't find his voice appealing and I still don't see the point of somebody suddenly starting to sing within a movie (usually with others nearby oblivious)! I still don't like musicals.

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