The Prom

New to Netflix.

Wriiten by Bob Martin, Chad Beguelin and Matthew Sklar. Ryan Murphy directs this adaptation of the broadway musical of the same name, which tells the story of 4 stage actors in need of a P.R. win after their latest broadway “failure”. After briefly scouring social media they find the story of Emma, a teenage girl in Indiana, who’s school have chosen to cancel their prom rather than let her attend with her girlfriend. Our “liberal” Broadway stars decide they are going to head to Indiana to put right this act of small minded bigotry, give Emma her prom and educate those behind the act about the error of their intolerant ways.

Before we start, it’s best you know I’m a fan of much of Murphy’s work his TV shows particularly. That said, I don’t think he is wholly successful here as he and his star studded cast deliver an uneven film. At times, especially in its opening third, it’s a light hearted and fun musical ride, with Dee Dee (Meryl Streep), Barry (James Corden), Angie (Nicole Kidman) and Trent (Andrew Rannels) bringing to screen some fun musical numbers that lightly poke fun at their own industry, themselves and the small mindedness of the schools decision to ban the prom. All of this interspersed by more heartfelt numbers from Jo Ellen Pellman as Emma.

However, this mainly light hearted fun ride, takes a clunky turn in the middle as our central characters do some soul searching and come to terms with their past, before the film heads back to its more effective fun, highly predictable, yet suitably lovely and positive ending.

The Prom is a passable musical, there are solid performances from Streep and Kidman, well supported by Keegan-Michael Key, but it’s a nicely balanced Jo Ellen Pellman who steals the show from her more illustrious colleagues. It is at its best delivering its glitzy fun numbers, but gets bogged down trying to find more emotional depth and this is reflected in an overly long 2hrs 15 running time.

While it didn’t fully work for me its heart is in the right place and there is probably enough glitz, fun and enjoyable musical numbers to keep you onside until the end, but not something you’ll be rushing back to see again.