This is, as you are probably already aware, the hit stage musical transferred to the big screen. The scene is set in 1920s Chicago: Velma Kelly (Catherine Zeta Jones), a top showgirl, is sent to prison for murder; Roxie Hart (Rene Zellweger) is a housewife who cheats on her husband with a man who has promised her the glitzy lifestyle she has always dreamed about. When these promises turn out to be empty, Roxie shoots him dead and is given a death sentence. While both women await trial in prison, they vie for the help of lawyer Billy Flynn (Richard Gere) to get them off the hook.
The film is packed with great tunes which are sung impressively by the three leads, especially Catherine Zeta Jones who gives a confident and mesmerising performance. However, John C Reilly as Roxie's husband is a little bit of a letdown after witnessing a heart breaking performance of the same role in the stage version.
While she dreams of becoming a star, Roxie chooses to take refuge in a fantasy world in which everyone she meets take to the stage to sing a musical number. The result of tagging one musical number after another in this way makes for an uninventive style which left me feeling that I'm better off just going to watch the musical at the theatre. There are even scenes that are choreographed in virtually the same way as the stage show is. What would have been more interesting is a merger between Roxie's fantasy and reality worlds as I found that the frequent intercutting of the dialogue scenes with the show tunes only served to overshadow the narrative.
I really do not think that Chicago' is worthy of a Best Film Oscar this year as there are other films I've seen this year which are more deserving of this accolade.
The film is packed with great tunes which are sung impressively by the three leads, especially Catherine Zeta Jones who gives a confident and mesmerising performance. However, John C Reilly as Roxie's husband is a little bit of a letdown after witnessing a heart breaking performance of the same role in the stage version.
While she dreams of becoming a star, Roxie chooses to take refuge in a fantasy world in which everyone she meets take to the stage to sing a musical number. The result of tagging one musical number after another in this way makes for an uninventive style which left me feeling that I'm better off just going to watch the musical at the theatre. There are even scenes that are choreographed in virtually the same way as the stage show is. What would have been more interesting is a merger between Roxie's fantasy and reality worlds as I found that the frequent intercutting of the dialogue scenes with the show tunes only served to overshadow the narrative.
I really do not think that Chicago' is worthy of a Best Film Oscar this year as there are other films I've seen this year which are more deserving of this accolade.