Musical films tend to be a gateway genre into more serious forms of cinema, since many of us grew up being enchanted by the singing and dancing of colourful characters who were normally animated, and there to provide us with a bridge from the earliest days of consuming film, to when we are fully aware of what we’re seeing. The transition from these pedestrian, child-oriented musicals, to more artistically-resonant ones, is a lot more seamless than in other genres, and there have been legions of us that have been galvanized into adoring cinema solely based on the fact that we found ourselves radicalized by the joy and upbeat charms of some of history’s great musicals. Unfortunately, there are have been some instances where this genre – which is normally one that is almost universally embraced – just doesn’t work, mainly when we see filmmakers attempt to revive the genre, that has been semi-dormant for a few decades, only rearing its head as something of a novelty item. Over the past twenty years, we’ve seen some terrific adaptation of Broadway shows brought to the screen, whether it be the sensual Chicago, or the boisterous Hairsprays. However, we’ve seen a few failures as well – and right at the end of this historically-challenging year, Ryan Murphy burst through the doors and presented us with yet another unconvincing, overwrought work that has very little charm, and an energy that will leave the viewer more bewildered than entertained. His adaptation of The Prom is, for loss of a better word, an unfortunate cacophony of sights and sounds that strives to join a long lineage of great stage-to-screen adaptations, but falls short with alarming consistency, almost as if no effort was being put in at all – and based on the final product, it wouldn’t be surprising in the least to find out that The Prom was just a few catchy songs and colourful costumes, cobbled together to appear like a major event, when in actuality it is more of a film that is bound to be forgotten the moment we turn the television off and go on with our lives, of which we’ve essentially lost two hours, which may not be considered a waste, but could’ve rather been spent with a more well-constructed, meaningful musical that gave its audience slightly more credit.

Unfortunately, The Prom is neither great, nor it is particularly awful (since if a musical film is not going to be successful, it might as well as torturous enough to be remembered, similar to a certain musical adaptation that premiered last year, and will be forever be embedded in our…memory), which means that it struggles to find any prospect of being remembered in the slightest. Considering this film hails from the director behind Glee, a show that spent the majority of its time on air gasping for air while throwing overwrought commentary at the unsuspecting viewer, it’s hardly surprising that The Prom is such a mediocre work, one that doesn’t back up any of its ridiculous claims, and instead functions as being a truly unremarkable experience. There are some moments where the film feels as if it’s coming together, since a few of the performances are quite good, and the general premise is one that has a lot of promise. This is the precise problem – while the show on which this was based was marginally successful, it was barely the cultural phenomenon that normally serves as the impetus for an adaptation. It was a well-liked musical with good reviews that did relatively decently in terms of reaching audiences – but with very little cultural imprint, and a lack of urgency to have this presented to a worldwide viewership, it’s difficult to rationalize its existence, outside of the social message that is indeed worth the time given, but not the form it took under the control of a director who, despite being a mainstay in the industry, has never been quite able to get a handle on his craft. There are certainly some redeeming qualities of The Prom that keeps it relatively entertaining, but it ultimately doesn’t add up to much, and its best hopes seem to be nestling comfortably into the position of being pleasantly mediocre at best, deeply unconvincing at worst.

Based on the various components that went into its creation, The Prom deserved so much better. On the surface level, the story (which focuses on the prom in a small town’s high school, which is cancelled in response to the decision of a single student to bring her girlfriend to the event, which clashed with the conservative values of the town), is quite a memorable one, and warranted a strong adaptation. Beyond this, Murphy does manage to strong-arm himself into acquiring a very notable cast of some of cinema’s finest actors, as well as James Corden. How one is able to have both the story and the cast (as well as relatively endearing material in terms of a plot structure and musical numbers), and make something as uninspiring and limp as this is testament to the fact that Murphy is just not a gifted filmmaker, and whose talents exist better in theory than they do execution. The Prom feels like a high-concept project that functions as a promising idea than something that makes it to screens. Unfortunately, as the two hours of tacky, overly-convoluted gallivanting will attest, this film absolutely does exist, and while its difficult to determine what it could’ve been (since, as we mentioned already, there wasn’t any real urgency for this film to be made, outside of devoted fans of musical theatre), it’s easier to acknowledge that whatever it was aiming for, it missed the mark in many instances. It’s not completely void of charms, but rather is needlessly weighed down by its flaws, which overtake the merits to create something that feels imbalanced and notoriously bland. The Prom isn’t poorly-made, but rather the work of unrestrained laziness, which is not an ideal situation for a film that seems to be yearning for recognition as some revolutionary piece of LGBTQIA+ representation, but barely even registers as something with much soul in the first place.

Had it not been for the cast assembled to play these roles, there’s very little doubt The Prom would receive even an iota of recognition. I’ve long held the belief that the most entertaining Meryl Streep performances are those that allow her to have fun and let loose for two hours – and based on the character description, and what we’ve seen Streep do in the past few years, Dee Dee Allen seemed tailor-made for an actress who can play over-the-top, eccentric diva-like very few others. She’s absolutely fine in this film – but when we’re talking about an actress who carries the consensus of being one of the screen’s finest performers (if not the very gold-standard of acting), it’s slightly disappointing to see how unremarkable she is. The same can be said for Nicole Kidman, whose very presence in The Prom is bizarre – she disappears halfway through the film, but we don’t even notice she is gone until she re-emerges, her absence entirely unexplained – we’ve seen Streep and Kidman give similar performances in the past, with more conviction and dedication, so this is just another case of selling a film on them as recognizable stars, rather than their specific performances. Unfortunately, The Prom also has a truly dismal lead performance by James Corden, whose portrayal of Barry Glickman, whose life as a gay man is central to the narrative, is dangerously close to being offensive, and the less said about his performance, the better, considering how his very presence here is bewildering, since absolutely nothing we have seen from him before indicates that he was the right choice for this role, and his lack of restraint comes very close to ruining the entire film. The only truly great performances in The Prom come on behalf of Andrew Rannells, who seems to be the only person who realizes the film he is in (probably due to the fact that he is much more attuned to the specifics of the stage, and could thus capture the necessary tone), and Kerry Washington, who plays a tremendous villain, albeit one that can sometimes appear far too one-dimensional to be entirely convincing. The strength of the performances in The Prom allow it to rise above the paltry material – and if you’re going to have some truly hackneyed lyrics throughout your show, at least have them belted out by the cream of the acting crop.

Despite its clear ambitions, The Prom is not a major work. Without the presence of a star-studded cast, and the aura of being something important, this would’ve just been another minor entry into the canon of stage-to-screen musicals, and would’ve most likely occupied a position towards the middle, since it doesn’t have the heart, nor the artistic prowess, to be anything special, nor does it have the camp value of something that leaves an impression, even if it were to be absolutely atrocious. In the end, Murphy made something that he hoped would appeal to a global audience – and while it does have an entertaining streak to it, there isn’t much beyond it to keep this film in the conversation. It has a great cast that are mostly very good (and the stronger performances do help distract from the weaker ones), and there are some strong musical moments – mostly the more upbeat numbers, since the film does struggle to reach an emotional crescendo – so there are some aspects of The Prom that help redeem it and keep it relatively entertaining. Unfortunately, there isn’t much else to remember about the film, since its one that works better in theory than it does in execution. This is a story that would’ve been substantially improved with some changes, such as a more steady-hand guiding it (since despite being one of the most prominent producers of queer-oriented programming, Murphy is not a particularly skilled director), or some casting changes that could’ve given an opportunity to some lesser-known performers. It’s a film that does manage to reach its peak at being purely adequate, which is unfortunately not an ideal result for something that should’ve been a celebratory experience, but instead just barely makes it through as a coherent film. It served a very specific function, and nothing more, which is a severely unfortunate turn of events, since it had the potential to be very special.