Film Review: THE PROM

You know those movies that are so bad they're good?  The Prom is not one of those. We thought it was one of those in the beginning, but it turned out to be just so bad. For starters, it's a musical with people bursting into song whenever the scriptwriter drew a blank. Sadly, the songs all sound exactly alike, sort of like on a Jackson Browne album except Jackson's voice is like honey being poured into your ears and this is more like not that.

Meryl Streep stars, and as always is worth watching. Here she hams it up as a narcissistic Broadway star in a red wig and with a dazzling, over-the-top wardrobe, so the clothes are fun. Nicole Kidman plays a tarty chorus girl who looks like she might have anorexia. She's awfully skinny and shows a lot of it in skimpy costumes. The rest of the cast is okay, but just okay. Except for the head gay guy Barry, who is a train wreck. Played by James Corden, a straight actor who tries to act gay, he does this by flouncing around and using his hands a lot. I am not even gay and I was insulted. 

But the true star of the film is the LGBTQ community. Gays are coming out all over and isn't that heartwarming? They are supporting the protagonist, a high-school lesbian who wants to attend the prom with her girlfriend but the school board says no way. This makes the news and the Broadway gang, laid low after their new show receives dismal reviews and closes on opening night, hops a bus to Indiana to show their support for homosexuals everywhere and hopefully earn some good publicity.

There's tons of singing and dancing and schmaltz. We couldn't stop watching, our mouths agape for the whole two hours. It was directed by the guy who made the Glee TV show, so if you liked that you will love this, especially if you are about 12 or 13 years old.