Dear Evan Hansen: going in with zero expectations, I was pleasantly surprised. Maybe not head-over-heels, but surprised.

Dear Evan Hansen, the musical written and composed by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, premiered in 2016 at the Music Box Theatre on Broadway. The show won six Tony awards and ran until the Covid-19 pandemic shut it down March 2020.

The show follows 17-year-old Evan Hansen, a high school senior with severe social anxiety, who has been instructed by his therapist to write upbeat letters to himself explaining why “today is going to be a good day.” When outcast classmate Connor Murphy takes one of Evan’s letters and then kills himself, the Murphys find the letter and assume Connor and Evan were friends.

The film based on the musical premiered September 24 to a box office bomb at $13.9 million, nearly $15 million less than its budget of $28 million.

Reprising the titular role is Benjamin Platt, who originated the part of Evan since the production’s genesis in 2014 and through the first year of the Broadway run. Platt is 28 years old, 11 years his character’s senior.

While casting adults in teenaged roles is certainly not a new concept, critics were unhappy with the choice to cast Platt. Not only is his physical appearance in the film jarring and unrealistic, but reviewers were quick to blame the choice on nepotism, as Dear Evan Hansen was produced by Marc E Platt, Ben Platt’s father.

In the film, Platt’s hair is grown out and curly to appear boyish. His face is caked with makeup and concealer, which doesn’t hide his age, but it does smooth over his skin and sit in crevices and depressions in his bone structure. In some close-up shots, Platt has visible stubble on his cheeks under the makeup intended to cover it.

“His very build and frame, especially his jutted winged shoulders, is that of a grown man,” said Robert Daniels, critic at Roger Ebert.

Additionally, some audiences argued that the role would have been an opportunity for an unknown actor to debut, or for one of the other actors who played Evan on Broadway. Fan-favorite Jordan Fisher, who will resume the role on Broadway when Dear Evan Hansen reopens in December, is only a year younger than Platt, but many fans believed he would have been a better fit, both physically and in terms of audience preference.

Kaitlyn Dever appears as Zoe Murphy, Connor’s sister and Evan’s love interest. Although she, too, is only a few years younger than Platt, audiences say that she passes for a teenager in the film much more easily than Platt does. With Zoe looking like a high school student and Evan unable to hide his grown features, the romantic scenes between the actors end up feeling creepy and uncomfortable.

Many of these criticisms of Platt’s casting came to light as previews and trailers were released showing the pitiful attempt to make Evan look young. A month before the movie was released Platt himself addressed the criticism.

“I think the reaction is largely from people who don’t understand . . . the fact that I created the role and workshopped it for three years,” Platt said, in an interview on The Zach Sang Show. “My defensive response would be to go onto Twitter and be like, ‘F you, guys! You don’t even know that this wouldn’t exist without me!’”

For some fans, this entitled response was the final nail in the coffin that held any lasting advocacy for Platt or the film.

It was no help to audience perception that the film pared down other characters’ roles to highlight Evan. Four songs from the official soundtrack were cut: “Anybody Have a Map,” between both Connor’s and Evan’s mothers, “Disappear,” one of Connor’s only featured songs, “To Break in a Glove,” Connor’s father’s song, and “Good for You.”

Removing “Good for You” outraged fans. The song is sung by Heidi Hansen, Evan’s mother, and Evan’s friends Jared and Alana, all of whom he’s been mistreating throughout the show.

One feature that made Dear Evan Hansen so popular and renowned was the villain of the story being its main character, Evan Hansen. Evan fakes a friendship with a classmate who committed suicide in order to get closer to the student’s family, specifically, his sister, with whom Evan is in love.

“Good for You” is the part in the show where Evan’s poor choices are beginning to catch up to him. It’s sung by his mother and his friends, angry and betrayed. Not only does the film remove the song entirely, the anger of the people around him is reduced to one lifeless argument with his mother, lacking in the vitriol and punch that made their interaction in the song so powerful.

By the end of the film, Evan suffers few consequences for his actions. He’s even given a brand new solo song, playing over a scene in which he contacts everyone who might have known Connor in order to gather information on who he really was and give the Murphy family a genuine glimpse of their son again, one not tainted by Evan’s lies.

Dear Evan Hansen is such a cutting-edge story because Evan was not the hero. The writers did not intend for the audience to root for him, but the film ignores that intention and insists on Evan’s heroism.

In many instances, especially some of the songs, the shots and staging are distracting. In “For Forever,” while Evan is singing an extended solo to the Murhpys, the camera focuses on him sitting still and singing without much action or dynamism in his portrayal, leaving the audience uncomfortable and waiting for it to end. As one of the show’s most emotional songs, the scene greatly disappointed fans.

One could argue that powerful solos just don’t translate from stage to cinema well, but musical theater enthusiasts have seen excellent films make powerful scenes out of these types of songs before. Les Miserables (2012) kept the shot on Fantine’s face for the entirety of “I Dreamed a Dream,” but her dynamic and passionate performance was what made the scene so impactful, precisely the attribute that “For Forever” is missing.

Filmmakers have said that there needs to be a reason to change a shot in a scene, but Dear Evan Hansen has several shot changes seemingly serving no purpose other than to follow the music and look disorienting. In the film’s opening song “Waving through a Window,” cameras switching among different orientations of Evan along with the beats in the chorus are nearly enough to give the audience whiplash. They’re messy, unnecessary, and unprofessional.

Sometimes, even the sound mixing is poor. A few times in the film, the audio from background noise overpowers a character’s singing. In “Waving through a Window,” the intention might have been to highlight how chaotic the world feels to Evan, but if so, it achieves this poorly. The scene doesn’t provide any other suggestion for the parallel to Evan’s internal chaos, so if that was the intention, it would be too easy to misinterpret.

But despite its many shortcomings, Dear Evan Hansen offers plenty.

A musical’s draw is less about plot and characters and more to do with the effectiveness and enjoyment of its songs, which Dear Evan Hansen still does well.

Notably well done songs are “You Will Be Found,” a powerful piece that holds the heart of the show, “Sincerely Me,” an infectious beat with mesmerizing choreography, and “Requiem,” which is arguably more powerful on screen than it was on stage thanks to Dever’s stellar performance.

Also debuting is “The Anonymous Ones,” performed by Amandla Stenberg as Alana. While loyal Dear Evan Hansen fans may have been resistant to the introduction of two new songs, “The Anonymous Ones” fits right into the series of emotional and beautifully composed songs for which the show is known.

Though the film has little respect for the integrity of the original show, performances from the star-studded cast offer Dear Evan Hansen some redemption.

Platt’s voice soars, making even the most uncomfortable and frustrating of scenes bearable. His acting choices for the character are not always appropriate or engaging for the scenes, but there’s no denying the talent he possesses in order to make those choices at all.

Stenberg takes the somewhat inconsequential role of Alana and makes her memorable and lovable with their quirks and personal touch, putting an authenticity into the part that’s both endearing and extraordinary.

Amy Adams appears as Cynthia Murphy, and though the role’s only featured song was cut from the film, her depiction of a conflicted and grieving mother makes the character stand out from the rest.

And although Connor Murphy’s role was reduced drastically from stage to screen, Colton Ryan’s brief performance leaves an impact, showing a fulfilled redemption in just a couple of scenes.

Furthermore, the message of Dear Evan Hansen has never been about Evan himself. The theme of the musical is connection: the concept that nobody is truly alone. The film upholds this message well.

“You Will Be Found” tells the audience that they are worthy, valued, and loved. It’s not about Connor, or Evan, or any of the story’s elements—it’s a reassurance to anyone who feels like they don’t matter.

Dear Evan Hansen is a collection of excellent performances in a poorly done film. Although its many flaws seem a threat to its worth, the value of the message and the music make sitting through the movie musical a pleasantly surprising experience.