Item: The Prom
Rating: 7
Author: Matt Rooney

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

PLOT: Four struggling Broadway actors travel to Indiana to help a gay high school in her fight to have an inclusive prom, and they all do much singing and dancing along the way.

REVIEW: Much like how the summer movie season has brought three months of non-stop blockbuster hopefuls for decades, the last few years have seen December being home to one massive movie musical meant to end the year by putting a song in our hearts. LA LA LAND was a masterstroke; THE GREATEST SHOWMAN got far more than it gave back and; CATS was the brilliant nightmare that, perhaps not coincidentally, ushered us into the worst year in recorded history. Now entering the ranks is the star-studded, candy-colored, bubblegum bop THE PROM, a tad-too-long showstopper that masks its flaws with enough toe-tappers and extreme energy to end the year with a joyful bang.

Based on the Broadway musical by Matthew Sklar, Chad Beguelin and Bob Martin (the former producing here, and the latter two on the script), the premise as a whole acts as an ode to the colorful, over-the-top world of musical comedies – which will be all the more welcome for the many people who have had to go without Broadway in the year of COVID-19. Filled with plenty of broad laughs, big personalities and centered on the heartfelt story of a high school lesbian, Emma (newcomer Jo Ellen Pellman), fighting back against a conservative parental administration that won’t let her bring her girlfriend to the school prom. If you think that sounds like a concept the man behind every show people can’t seem to stop talking about – Ryan Murphy – would jump at the chance to bring to the big screen, then step into the spotlight, because you’re the big winner.

About as Ryan Murphy a musical as anything by Ryan Murphy can be, THE PROM is a movie that spares no expense or ounce of sweat from the cast on its big musical numbers and equally big character moments – while then hitting a serious sugar crash through the less extravagant moments. He assembled a crack cast to play the self-centered Broadway stars who head to Emma’s Indiana town to capitalize on a PR move to join her cause. We’ve got the one and only Meryl Streep as the aging Broadway star Dee Dee Allen; there’s James Corden as Barry Glickman, who isn’t quite the star as Allen but with all the drama and arrogance; then we have Nicole Kidman as Angie Dickinson, the chorus girl yet to get her big breakthrough and; Andrew Rannells, the Julliard grad (ask him about it) who can’t land a steady gig beyond the back of a bar counter. Together they’re a quippy foursome who never turn down a chance to own the spotlight, and many of the best numbers hinge on the actors’ charisma and charm that would work just as well on stage as it does here.

This a movie where nine times out of ten you’re going to be talking about the numbers more than the story, and considering Murphy doesn’t make much of an attempt to make it go the other way, he ensures we walk away loving the razzle-dazzle above all. From the big opening number, “Changing Lives”, which coats 42nd Street head-to-toe in glamour and bright lights, to the Bob Fosse-esque “It’s Not About Me” and “Zazz”, Murphy directs with a sense of showmanship and reverence for Broadway musicals, delivering something that feels befitting for the big screen while still having the intimacy of a theatrical production. In particular, “Zazz” finds Kidman and Pellman draped in neon lights and a spotlight, turning the latter’s living room and staircase into a stage – the two jazz-handing across it all. Whether it’s a big number on a stage, an intimate interplay between two players, or the all-around rousing final number, Murphy worked with his team to ensure virtually every number has the production value around it to make it feel spectacular and often funny…with only a few feeling less so.

As for the players, all of them seem to be having a blast and are perfectly cast to execute the blend of rousing musical numbers and funny moments – with many of the songs themselves being hilarious in their own right. Streep chews into the drama queen that is Allen, blasting her pipes beyond what MAMMA MIA! And INTO THE WOODS allowed her to, once again reaffirming that she can, in fact, do literally anything. While he may not be the top-billed, Rannells proves himself a true showman, nailing the humor and owning the large-scale “Love Thy Neighbor,” and should be cast in infintley more projects. Corden, as energetic as ever like when appearing in seemingly just about everything else in town, is perfect for a Murphy musical. By that, I mean he lives up to the biggest, most sensational moments with gusto, and stays that way for the more emotional ones. For everything else in between, he doesn’t provide as much, even though he is at the heart of two of the more tear-jerking moments. And, sadly, as much as Kidman crushes “Zazz,” her character doesn’t have much else to do except be there and be supportive. Considering what she’s capable of, it’s a bit of a drag she doesn’t get more prominent placement in more numbers.

Sure to be a star after this, Pellman is a radiant burst of joy and nigh-endless positivity. As exemplified in the song “Just Breathe,” despite how hard it is to be a gay kid in a place like Indiana, she’s always looking on the bright side and trying to stay positive, even when other kids and parents pull out all the stops to bring her down. As her secret girlfriend, Alyssa Greene is played by the also incredible Ariana DeBose, and the two make a winning pair and have more than one touching musical moment together. Rounding out the cast are Keegan-Michael Key as Emma’s supportive principal and Dee Dee’s love interest, and Kerry Washington as the uptight, damn-near cruel mother of Alyssa. Key gets a chance to show off his pipes and has some solid chemistry with Streep, and Washington doesn't get to do much singing, as she's mostly there to be the prude, conservative mom, one we're perhaps supposed to like in the end despite the fact that she did more to demonize Emma and the gay community beyond what loving her own daughter makes up for.

Now, if it seems like I’m going on and on about the pageantry and all the characters, it’s because THE PROM is soooo much of all of that, and to a fault. There’s so much showmanship and back and forth with characters that the jumbled narrative bounces back and forth between one story about inclusion and acceptance, and a far less captivating one about celebrities being humbled by a small town. The former doesn’t quite get the time it deserves by evenly splitting Emma/Alyssa’s time with every other character, despite them being the stronger end of the story. Ultimatley, the film spends too much time wildly ebbing and flowing with different angles of the story that it feels like the one time Netflix should’ve opted for the miniseries version over a movie that slides well past a two-hour runtime. There’s a ton of heart in the story, but it’s meshed together with so much else that feels too ordinary, narratively speaking, that when the music isn’t cranked up it’s hard to always care about what’s going on.

But, for a movie that's mostly so-so in the story department and tries to fill the stage with more people than it can always hold, so much of it is easy to ignore thanks to a fantastic cast launching themselves into a series of smashing numbers. Given what a garbage year 2020 has been, I can see no small amount of people entirely being whisked away by THE PROM’s charm, especially when it has the ability to make you feel so good as we’re so close to the end of a crap year. While I can’t say anyone who doesn’t like musicals should give this one a shot – especially not one that has Murphy’s name all over it – there is a part of me that thinks if what you need is a bit of a pick-me-up, then hell, if you made it through 2020 you can survive anything, so give some toe-tapping a shot.