So it turns out, to no big surprise, that I’m not a fan of musicals. I have yet to see Moulin Rouge! or Chicago. Even though I’ve been told how great both movies are, I have yet to find the desire to give either film a chance. There was something about Les Miserables, however, that piqued my interest. I think it was the Anne Hathaway trailer. I’ve repeatedly said on my blog that Anne Hathaway and Michelle Williams are the two best actresses in the world. I’ll go out of my way to see any movie in which either actress stars. I thought the Hathaway “I Dreamed a Dream” trailer was perfectly made. It won me over on the spot. I put aside any reservations and promised myself I would see it.
***Start of minor spoiler***
With a run time of 2 hours and 38 minutes, this movie had not just a -1 going into it but rather a -2 (at least). I hoped my first musical would be closer to 1 hour and 38 minutes. However, I knew that going in. I didn’t know that Anne Hathaway (Rachel Getting Married, Love and Other Drugs) was only going to be on screen for about 20 minutes. If you go into the movie, like I did, thinking you will see a Anne Hathaway movie, you will be very disappointed. That said, the 20 minutes of Hathaway as factory worker Fantine were fantastic. Because I like her so much, I do hope she gets an Academy Award nomination. She was highly deserving of her nomination in Rachel Getting Married, and I thought she got snubbed for her performance in Love and Other Drugs). However, I have always preferred actors and actresses receive supporting awards if they are on the screen for less than 20% of the movie. There is something about that idea that doesn’t seem fair. Are there five other actresses in supporting roles who have performed better in their films than Hathaway did in this one? They are on screen a lot more than she is in this one.
***End of minor spoiler***
So I liked Les Miserables. I did. I’m just not sold on musicals. I am surprised by the number of people who have seen it multiple times. It might be neat to see on stage. I wouldn’t say I’m a huge fan of plays, but I can do them every once in a while. This movie played out too much like it was on a stage, so much so that I wondered why it wasn’t just on stage. I didn’t expect hand-to-hand combat like in The Last of the Mohicans, but I was hoping for a little more than the overdrawn fight scenes you would expect to see on a stage. I get that the dialogue and the story were told through song, and while the visuals were fantastic, I wanted something more. I can’t pinpoint what I wanted, but for all the hype surrounding this movie, it was good but not exceptional. If I were giving it a grade, I would give it a B. At times it was B+/A- level, but at other times (especially during the middle hour), it was only slightly above average.
Hugh Jackman (The Greatest Showman, Bad Education) was excellent performance-wise. Jackman has hosted the Tony Awards three times and the Academy Awards once. He has a beautiful voice. The role of Jean Valjean was the one Jackman was born to play. He does a fantastic job developing his character, first as a prisoner, then as the “mayor” of a town of factory buildings, to a fugitive on the run for breaking his parole, all while attempting to balance his moral compass. While Hathaway’s brief performance was breathtaking, Jackman made this film. I didn’t think Russell Crowe (Gladiator, A Beautiful Mind) was excellent as the ruthless Inspector Javert, but he could have been better too. It was a challenging role, especially for an accomplished actor diving into this genre for the first time. Other outstanding performances were Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat, The Dictator) as Thernardier, Helena Bonham Carter (The King’s Speech, Alice in Wonderland) as Madame Thenardier, and Eddie Redmayne (My Week With Marilyn, The Other Boleyn Girl) as Marius, the love interest of Fantine’s daughter Cosette (Amanda Seyfried – In Time, Albert Nobbs).
Movies You Might Like If You Liked This Movie
- Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street
- The Greatest Showman
- Moulin Rouge!
- Portrait of a Lady on Fire
- Cyrano