Netflix's THE PROM Reviews & Reactions- Page 5

[CT2NYC]

The reviews are very reminiscent of the stage show's, with some who hate it and find it totally misguided, but with more who love it or, at the very least, find it hard to resist.

[BrodyFosse123]

Limited theatrical release: Dec 4
Netflix release: Dec 11

[TrChSpHa]

Vanity Fair: "James Corden Should Have Been Banned From The Prom" 

https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2020/12/the-prom-movie-review-james-corden

[Chowd95]

Jordan Catalano said: "Newsweek says Corden is “offensively miscast” and I’m glad that’s being called out because it’s true. "

Meanwhile Variety calls his performance "soulfully funny and touching" and compares it to Christopher Guest in "Waiting for Guffman".

[Jordan Catalano]

ok.

[barcelona20]

If Ryan Murphy had no problem with casting James Corden, why should anyone else?

[Kad]

I forgot that Ryan Murphy speaks to the feelings of all queer people, like a gay Lorax.

[Sutton Ross]

Meanwhile Variety calls his performance "soulfully funny and touching" and compares it to Christopher Guest in "Waiting for Guffman".

And I'm sure he is, he's great. However, many other actors could have played the role. I know he is not a name but I thought Brooks Ashmanskas was pretty amazing on stage and I'm pretty confident he would have been wonderful on screen. 

[Plannietink08]

Four stars from WhatsOnStage

https://www.whatsonstage.com/london-theatre/reviews/the-prom-netflix-musical-murphy_52913.html?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=1December2020&fbclid=IwAR1eH9plzelrWcc8tyml0fRFKpV4uj7c6a0SEI0BsRNK8WP3YvpLfsxMjjs

“ For what it's worth, James Corden gives a better turn than last year's Cats. Make of that what you will.”

[SouthernCakes]

I think what it comes down to is a straight guy playing a fem gay guy for laughs in 2020 just doesn’t sit well. Especially since the central theme is queer acceptance. Surprised no one involved would have brought that up.

[LizzieCurry]

Maybe this will help, unless you're being purposely obtuse, which is hardly a rare thing in online interactions.

"Forget the whole case-by-case thing: No more straight actors playing gay men until the sins of The Prom are properly atoned for. Murphy, a gay man, has led some straight actors into fertile gay territory before, like Darren Criss in The Assassination of Gianni Versace. But Corden, flitting and lisping around in the most uninspired of caricatures, misses all potential for nuance, and thus never finds even a hint of truth in the role. And this is in a movie that’s supposed to be about empowering queer people!"

https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2020/12/the-prom-movie-review-james-corden

[barcelona20]

LizzieCurry said: "Maybe this will help, unless you're being purposely obtuse, which is hardly a rare thing in online interactions.

"Forget the whole case-by-case thing: No more straight actors playing gay men until the sins of The Prom are properly atoned for. Murphy, a gay man, has led some straight actors into fertile gay territory before, like Darren Criss in The Assassination of Gianni Versace. But Corden, flitting and lisping around in the most uninspired of caricatures, misses all potential for nuance, and thus never finds even a hint of truth in the role. And this is in a movie that’s supposed to be about empowering queer people!"

https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2020/12/the-prom-movie-review-james-corden"

It's hard to say since none of us have seen the movie yet, but is this much different than the way Brooks played it on Broadway?  I'd say no.

[Kad]

I did not find Corden to be stereotypical (well, not beyond what is explicitly written into the script) or necessarily offensive in his depiction of a gay man. I don't mind mincing and flitting and flaming and queening out- I do all those things and so do all of my friends. I just didn't think he was particularly *good* in the role- he's somewhat miscast and not particularly ever convincing. He's... inauthentic.

I do think casting a straight actor to play a character like this- whose whole story is that he is long estranged from his parents and had been denied a major moment of teenage years, due to his sexuality- in 2020 is tone deaf, and undercuts the message of the film.

Have straight men given good, even great, performances as gay characters? Absolutely. Robin Williams in The Birdcage or Jeffrey Wright in Angels in America immediately come to mind. But again, those are now decades old, and there were substantially fewer openly queer actors in Hollywood. Times have changed.

Something that stuck with me was a comment that Murphy made in the conversation that follows the film in the press screener version: he says he wanted to make a movie he would have wanted to see when he was growing up. Which is understandable! But it's also 2020 and he is separated from the world of his adolescence by 40+ years.

[MerylLeavel]

barcelona20 said: "LizzieCurry said: "Maybe this will help, unless you're being purposely obtuse, which is hardly a rare thing in online interactions.

"Forget the whole case-by-case thing: No more straight actors playing gay men until the sins of The Prom are properly atoned for. Murphy, a gay man, has led some straight actors into fertile gay territory before, like Darren Criss in The Assassination of Gianni Versace. But Corden, flitting and lisping around in the most uninspired of caricatures, misses all potential for nuance, and thus never finds even a hint of truth in the role. And this is in a movie that’s supposed to be about empowering queer people!"

https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2020/12/the-prom-movie-review-james-corden"

It's hard to say since none of us have seen the movie yet, but is this much different than the way Brooks played it on Broadway? I'd say no."

Brooks is an openly gay man

 

[Jordan Catalano]

“Brooks is an openly gay man”

Whaaaaaaaaaaaat? No! Y’dont say!

[brian1973]

When is America going to realise that James Corden is talentless ? One of the most disliked people by people in the UK.

[Kad]

His performance in One Man, Two Guv’nors was legitimately one of the funniest I’ve ever seen. He is talented. He is just remarkably overexposed, and done nothing since that even comes close to the heights of that production.

[quizking101]

I can’t remember which review it was but one of them said “this is a role that screams out for Nathan Lane” and I was YES YES YES YES. It also recognized the wide age gap between Streep and Corden, hinting that it was hard to see them as contemporaries of each other

[Owen22]

brian1973 said: "When is America going to realise that James Corden is talentless ? One of the most disliked people by people in the UK."

Oh for crying out loud! He was brilliant in One Man Two Guvnors and I loved him in Into the Woods. He may have been cast against sexual orientation here but that does not make him talentless.

 

[SouthernCakes]

Brooks is perfection. I still remember his performance in “Something Rotten.” Small roll but he had me rolling.

But I’d have liked Lane. I think it would have made sense to have him and Streep.

[Wayman_Wong]

''I can’t remember which review it was but one of them said “this is a role that screams out for Nathan Lane” and I was YES YES YES YES. It also recognized the wide age gap between Streep and Corden, hinting that it was hard to see them as contemporaries of each other''

Perhaps, David Rooney's review in the Hollywood Reporter? ''Corden, whose limited range becomes more apparent with every screen role, is torn between trying too hard and not hard enough as Barry. "I am as gay as a bucket of wigs!" he declares, in a role played with outrageously over-the-top swish by Brooks Ashmanskas on stage. Perhaps aware of the potential minefield for a straight actor playing a flaming gay stereotype, Corden channels the mannerisms without the joy. It's a flat performance without much heart, even when Tracey Ullman turns up (wearing a wig so heinous it's almost a helmet) to mend bridges as Barry's estranged mother. And Corden reads too young to be Dee Dee's contemporary. This is a role that cries out for Nathan Lane.''

For the record, it might be added that Murphy did cast the teen lesbian couple of Emma and Alyssa with 2 out actresses: Jo Ellen Pellman & Ariana DeBose.

[Chowd95]

barcelona20 said: "LizzieCurry said: "Maybe this will help, unless you're being purposely obtuse, which is hardly a rare thing in online interactions.

"Forget the whole case-by-case thing: No more straight actors playing gay men until the sins of The Prom are properly atoned for. Murphy, a gay man, has led some straight actors into fertile gay territory before, like Darren Criss in The Assassination of Gianni Versace. But Corden, flitting and lisping around in the most uninspired of caricatures, misses all potential for nuance, and thus never finds even a hint of truth in the role. And this is in a movie that’s supposed to be about empowering queer people!"

https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2020/12/the-prom-movie-review-james-corden"

It's hard to say since none of us have seen the movie yet, but is this much different than the way Brooks played it on Broadway? I'd say no."

I saw Josh Lamon on Broadway, not Brooks, and "gayer than a bucket of wigs" was an understatement (not in a bad way, though).

With all this talk about James and his mixed reviews I'd like to point out that the other cast members are all getting mostly raves. Apparently Andrew's "Love Thy Neighbor" is one of the standouts in a movie full of show stoppers.

[Wayman_Wong]

Indiewire.com: James Corden in 'The Prom' Sparks Critic Outrage

https://www.indiewire.com/2020/12/james-corden-the-prom-outrage-offensive-miscast-1234601570/

 

[BJR]

Kad said: "Have straight men given good, even great, performances as gay characters? Absolutely. Robin Williams in The Birdcage or Jeffrey Wright in Angels in America immediately come to mind. But again, those are now decades old, and there were substantially fewer openly queer actors in Hollywood. Times have changed."

Andrew Garfield won a Tony last year. As Vanity Fair even notes, Darrin Criss won an Emmy, what, 2 years ago? Both deserved, in my opinion.

Haven't seen this performance, so I have no opinion on its nuance or lack thereof.

[skies]

Straight actors playing gay is many times award bait, as is, for example, younger white actresses using prosthetics to make themselves unattractive for a "daring" or "courageous" role. 

We get it: It's acting, so it shouldn't matter.  (It's the role, not the person, yada, yada, yada)

The disconnect is that straight (per public perception) male actors get most of the roles available regardless.  

It's the same issue when white actresses get most roles regardless and in addition get "ethnic" roles to boot.  

Saying that casting should be "colorblind" seems a bit disingenuous under that context.