Aarcflick

Director Maria Friedman attempts for a second time to capture a live performance of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth's Merrily We Roll Along, having directed a version in 2013, so she's had time to figure out how to make the show visually interesting as a film. This 2023-2024 Broadway revival follows three friends—Franklin (Jonathan Groff), Charley (Daniel Radcliffe), and Mary (Lindsay Mendez)—in reverse chronological order, from 1976 to 1957, chronicling how their respective dreams of becoming creative artists did (or didn't) come true, and the price they paid for it.  It's no surprise it was a notorious flop when it premiered in 1981, considering the melancholic fatalism of the structure and the premise's open antagonism toward crowd-pleasing art, but it remains quintessentially Sondheim in its unique musical structures, including a great deal of dizzying lyricism and overlapping singers. The three lead performances are solid, but most interesting is how Friedman...