Merrily We Roll Along Review

Merrily We Roll Along

Sony Pictures

Directed by Maria Friedman

Written by George Furth, George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart

Starring Daniel Radcliffe, Jonathan Groff, Lindsay Mendez, Krystal Joy Brown, Katie Rose Clarke, Reg Rogers, Max Rackenberg, Sherz Aletaha, Coby Getzug, Corey Mach and Talia Robinson

Rated PG-13

Spanning three decades, Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s Merrily We Roll Along charts the turbulent relationship between composer Franklin Shepard and his two lifelong friends — writer Mary and lyricist & playwright Charley. Originally produced on Broadway in 1981, then becoming an inventive cult-classic ahead of its time, Merrily We Roll Along features some of Stephen Sondheim’s most celebrated and personal songs.

Ever since I was a kid, I have loved theater, especially musical theater. As much as I love the concept of musical theater, there has only really ever been one composer whose work has grabbed my attention consistently over his career and over my life and that composer is Stephen Sondheim. I’ve seen Merrily We Roll Along performed live and seen Sondheim talk about the themes and ideas of this personal story so I was excited to see the Sony adaptation of the popular revival starring Radcliffe, Groff and Mendez and it was worth it.

One of the things that has always grabbed my attention about Merrily is the fact that the story is told in reverse. It begins with the emotional and physical severing of the relationship between the main leads and travels backwards through their journey as the find love, lose love, support each other, betray each other and suffer through their unrequited feelings. The adaptation from Maria Friedman brilliantly captures those emotions through its direction while the cast delivers on those emotions through their performances.

Groff’s Franklin Shepard is the center of the story. He starts the musical as the Hollywood darling, a successful composer and producer married to a Broadway starlet who is indulging in everything his fame has allowed him and none of it is making him happy. Groff conveys so much in looks alone as he stares off in quiet contemplation, genuine confusion and haughty disdain depending on the moment. He wants the success he has and has been convincing himself that he does for decades and that ambition costs him everything and everyone of actual value to him.

The only person from his past who still decides to be around him is Mendez’ Mary Flynn. Mary was a successful author who gave up her pursuits to become a theater critic. A move that also has something to do with Franklin who she has been harboring feelings for since they became friends. Mendez brilliantly portrays the unrequited love elements of the story as she throws glances at Franklin in pivotal moments and delivers snarky one-liners to the women in his life. It’s a wonderfully subtle performance bolstered by the fact that everyone sees her wearing her heart on her sleeve except the one man she wants to truly see her. You truly feel her longing in the song “Not A Day Goes By” as she watches Franklin getting married and quietly joins in as the couple sings to each other about the future they want to make together. It’s hauntingly sad and brilliantly acted.

Rounding out the trio is Radcliffe’s Charley Kringas who seems to be the only one of the group who is stable enough to balance his life and career. Charley and Franklin have been writing together for years and Charley acknowledges that some of his best work as a playwright has been with his best friend. As Franklin continues to compromise for the sake of success, Charley desperately tries to get his friend back to the place where they were creative together. Where they had ideas and ideals and were set to change the world with their work. Their falling out in the song “Franklin Shepard, Inc.” is the perfect encapsulation of Charley’s frustration and Groff’s reactions are amazing. He absolutely nails the stunned silence of being eviscerated by your best friend.

As the story progresses, the friends reach success and learn to live with the cost of that success and the plot moves from the trappings of things both attained and unrequited to the hunger and idealism of youth as the characters do everything they can to succeed and lean on each other in the process. I love that the story goes from a dark and unknown future to a promising past. As I watch moments like “It’s a Hit” and “Opening Door”, I began to wonder if there is any chance of these three friends finally sitting in a room together and recapturing who and what they were to each other. I love the hopefulness at the heart of this story and how open it is in its possibilities for something to change, for things to get better and for Franklin to wake up before its too late.

Friedman’s direction shines in this film because it knows where to focus. This is a human story about people and relationships and it should be about them. There isn’t a moment wasted on unnecessary close ups or group shots. There is an intimacy to the moments that put you in the room with the characters.

I love this adaptation. It gets the material, the themes and the emotions necessary to not only showcase a story about getting what you want no matter the cost, but it allows the characters to showcase the emotional cost to Franklin while giving him a way back. There are no bad guys in the story. There are only people wanting and that can be dangerous and destructive enough. I highly recommend checking this out as I prepare to watch it again for a third time.