I’m not quite sure what I just watched. Was this a comedy? A drama? A musical? A teen flick? RomCom? Based on a true story? Well after 1 google search this movie is apparently a cover of a Broadway show that I’ve…..never heard of. So instead of doing more research on the show, I’m just gonna stay blind and give you my thoughts on this film.

The first thing that caught my eye was the cast list – WOWZA did we have some heavy hitters! Meryl! Nicole! Andrew Rannells! Kerry Washington! WHAT?! But then we have James Corden….

Now, the trailer makes it seem like these ex-Broadway stars are going to make some sort of show about “The Prom”. Not so much. It’s basically about ex-Broadway stars trying to become unpaid PR activists for a high school girl who wants to take her girlfriend to the prom in Indiana during a time (might be modern day) when Indiana was (is?) anti-lesbian. Interesting plot…. so I was curious how this was going to play out- will they succeed? Will they fail? Will Indiana just stay….well….Indiana? Side note – Kerry Washington playing a bigoted PTA president was just NOT believable. So, nice try Kerry, but we know you’re too good for this role.

So after being shocked by the cast list and properly confused by the storyline, I have some thoughts on this movie:

1) THANK YOU for casting teenagers that can actually sing. And by “teenagers” I mean, the 20 somethings you casted as teenagers. It was appreciated. If I have to hear one more Disney star pretend to be able to sing just because somebody cast Russell Crowe as Javert, I’m gonna scream.

2) Most of the songs in this musical did not make me want to barf.

3) “Love Thy Neighbor” had a very strong “Book of Mormon” vibe to it and it kind of was the best one. Also, you cannot go wrong with a song featuring gospel tambourine AMIRITE?!

4) Yes, this movie had some plot holes – like how did she get 8 million views on a homemade video….not buying it. BUT I appreciated the fact that a lot of the movie had some really REAL moments: when James Corden has a hard time forgiving his parents, when Meryl Streep traded her Hampton house for a spot on her ex-husbands show that ended up NOT happening, and when Nicole Kidman didn’t actually chose the prom over her career- cuz that would have been extra dumb.

5) Lastly, as much as I love Keegan-Michael Key. He can’t sing. When you’re funny, talented, and tall, you can’t ALSO expect that God would give you the gift of singing. It’d be too much. So take what you got and just be happy with it!

Popcorn Rating: 3 popped corns

Overall, James Corden shouldn’t play a gay American ever again, but luckily he played opposite THE QUEEN aka Meryl, so this movie wasn’t as bad as it could have been.

Truthfully Yours

PFP