The actors aren't to blame for The Prom by Hails Shager

When it comes to The Prom, the Netflix Original with an all-star cast about four self-centered Broadway stars who help a gay teen attend her prom in Indiana, one would have to look far and wide for a positive review.  With James Corden, a straight British man, taking most of the justified criticism for his tragic misportrayal of Barry Glickman, a flamboyant gay American Broadway star, it’s difficult to focus on anything else.  Although Corden will be addressed in this review, as will Jo Ellen Pellman who played Emma Nolan, the focus will be on the movie as a whole, and some of the positives,

James Corden was miscast as Barry Glickman.  Simply put, there are thousands of flamboyant American actors who would have been amazing in the role of Barry Glickman.  Before noticing anything problematic with his portrayal of a gay man, Corden’s attempt at an American accent distracted me from anything he was saying.  Along with that, his imitation of a “gay lisp” was offputting, and his full portrayal was clear he did not have the lived experience of being queer.  Many reviewers of this movie mention that they “think that straight people can play queer roles, but…” I disagree.  I recognize that in the past it was acceptable in growing queer representation, and in community theatre where the options are limited and someone plays a character well, I understand.  But with the budget this movie had, someone without the lived difficulties of being queer should not be playing Barry Glickman, especially when it was publicized that the main queer teenagers were being played by queer actresses as if they were trying to recieve brownie points.  Corden’s performance made it difficult to focus on anything else, and although it could be argued he shouldn’t have taken the role, he should not have been offered the role.  

The other person who took a lot of the hate for this movie was Jo Ellen Pellman in the role of Emma.  The main criticism was that she was either smiling or crying throughout the entire movie, with no depth in between.  It was also difficult to believe that her and her girlfriend had been together for a year and a half when there was hardly any focus on their relationship.  Compared to the original broadway soundtrack, there was a much larger focus on the broadway actors instead of the teenagers, which is much different than how they advertised it.

Many of the rest of the characters were very entertaining, and played the stereotypes the show is based in incredibly.  Kerry Washington, Meryl Streep, and Keegan-Michael Key were standout performers, and made the show watchable if you could look past Corden’s performance.  The idea is interesting and the songs are catchy, but the execution into a film was poorly written and cast, and I would ultimately recommend listening to the original broadway cast recording and reading the plot on wikipedia instead.