Written by Bob Martin & Chad Beguelin
Directed by Ryan Murphy
Emma/Alyssa: "All it takes is you and me and our song!"
Ryan Murphy has been a busy man on Netflix this year and with his final entry, he's gone with something so unashamedly sugary, you could get the worst dose of toothache. If you thought Glee could be saccharine at times, then The Prom goes that extra mile.
The story is simple enough - seventeen year old Indiana girl, Emma Nolan (Jo Ellen Pellman) has come out as a lesbian and as a result, the PTA's Mrs Greene (Kerry Washington) has cancelled the prom. Of course this won't stand and it seems that Emma will go to the prom, courtesy of Broadway's finest taking on her plight as a personal cause.
Broadway's finest including chorus girl Angie Dickinson (Nicole Kidman), the somewhat narcissistic duo of Dee Dee Allen (Meryl Streep) and Barry Glickman (James Corden) and Juliard graduate, Trent Oliver (Andrew Rannells). They quickly rock up in the town, cause a stir, get the prom mobilised and at least Dee Dee makes something of an impression on principal Hawkins (Keegan Michael-Key) with a nice subplot romance between those two bubbling throughout the movie.
Now to get the elephant out of the room first - James Corden. That guy is definitely one of the most polarising actors out there and while I'm not entirely against straight actors playing gay characters, there were times in this movie where Corden's take on Barry positively grated at times. He's definitely the weak link in regards to the main cast, though he does have a few decent moments, as Barry served as a decent mentor to Barry and even reconnected with his mother, although the latter bit felt a tad rushed.
Emma's love story with Mrs Greene's daughter, Alyssa (Ariana DeBose) of course was the main plot and it was handled rather nice. Yes, there was the cliche of Alyssa not being able to come out and the other cliche of Mrs Greene accepting her daughter's sexuality in the last ten minutes but both DeBose and Pellman (both of whom identify as queer in real life) brought a lot of heart and believability to their respective roles.
Speaking of romances, I also thought the one between Principal Hawkins and Dee Dee was also nicely handled with some great banter between Meryl Streep and Keegan Michael-Key. Meanwhile both Andrew Rannells and Nicole Kidman who had slightly less focus than Corden and Streep were excellent in their roles as well. Rannells in particular is a rather underrated actor and Kidman was just delightful and I was happy when Angie got the role of Roxy Hart at the end of this one.
The musical numbers definitely were a delight. Some were undoubtedly stronger than others but the choreography was strong, the scenery was definitely chewed in parts but also looked genuinely beautiful throughout the entire movie.
- Nicole Kidman turned down the part of Roxy Hart and Meryl Streep had auditioned for the title role in Evita, so those references were interesting.
- Ariana Grande was originally attached to the role of Alyssa Greene but pulled out and to be fair, I think having Ariana DeBose was the better call here.
- Standout music: My Top 5 from this movie include Just Breathe, We Look To You, Zazz, The Acceptance Song and Dance With You.
- Chronology: I'm just gonna assume this is meant to be set in 2020.
The Prom ends a rather interesting year for Netflix contributions, courtesy of Ryan Murphy. An all star cast, an impressive debut for Jo Ellen Pellman and Ariana DeBose, gorgeous musical numbers, a lovely love story. The cheesiness is off the scale, even for Murphy but it's December, so I suggest just embracing the cheesiness here.
Rating: 8 out of 10
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