'Les Miserables' is the film adaptation of the theatre adaptation of the novel by Victor Hugo. Directed by Tom Hooper (The King's Speech), it tells the story of Jean Valjean's (Hugh Jackman) – an escaped convict who adopts and raises a child in the middle of revolutionary France.
The cast, on paper, is quite impressive; everyone will be a fan of at least one member of this ensemble it is that diverse. Thankfully, the great cast live up to everyone's expectations and do a really great job here. Hugh Jackman does well in this; he acts well, provides an extraordinary amount of emotion in crucial scenes and his singing isn't bad either. Amanda Seyfried did well here too but her character does not have a great amount of screen-time despite being the core of the film. Eddie Redmayne really surprised me here; he gives a truly fantastic performance and it is unfortunate that he does not appear to have had any award recognition for his work. Another surprising performance was that of Aaron Tveit, an actor I was not familiar with until I watched this. Of course, Anne Hathaway steals the show as Fantine. Her great singing and highly emotional scenes instantly win over people who aren't really fans of musicals. Russell Crowe is the only actor here who disappoints; you can't really expect excellent singing from everyone because they are actors, not singers. Russell Crowe obviously struggled to do the two things at once because everyone else manages to bring emotion to their scenes whereas his facial expression does not change at all when singing – I'm sure he would have given an admirable performance here if he did not have to sing but unfortunately he chose a musical in which all dialogue is sung.
The endless singing can get on your nerves a little but only when it is not during a huge song piece and they are genuinely just singing bits of dialogue. These moments are few and far between though. It was very brave of Tom Hooper to decide that there should be live singing but it has worked out well and made the film a lot better than it would have been. 'Les Miserables' is almost three hours long but it is not a chore to watch, there is no point where you feel bored or that the plot is moving along slowly. The whole film builds up to a truly fantastic climax that raises everyone's spirits.
Overall, this is a highly emotional musical which I think will bring them back into fashion. If they're all as good as Les Mis then I welcome them.
The cast, on paper, is quite impressive; everyone will be a fan of at least one member of this ensemble it is that diverse. Thankfully, the great cast live up to everyone's expectations and do a really great job here. Hugh Jackman does well in this; he acts well, provides an extraordinary amount of emotion in crucial scenes and his singing isn't bad either. Amanda Seyfried did well here too but her character does not have a great amount of screen-time despite being the core of the film. Eddie Redmayne really surprised me here; he gives a truly fantastic performance and it is unfortunate that he does not appear to have had any award recognition for his work. Another surprising performance was that of Aaron Tveit, an actor I was not familiar with until I watched this. Of course, Anne Hathaway steals the show as Fantine. Her great singing and highly emotional scenes instantly win over people who aren't really fans of musicals. Russell Crowe is the only actor here who disappoints; you can't really expect excellent singing from everyone because they are actors, not singers. Russell Crowe obviously struggled to do the two things at once because everyone else manages to bring emotion to their scenes whereas his facial expression does not change at all when singing – I'm sure he would have given an admirable performance here if he did not have to sing but unfortunately he chose a musical in which all dialogue is sung.
The endless singing can get on your nerves a little but only when it is not during a huge song piece and they are genuinely just singing bits of dialogue. These moments are few and far between though. It was very brave of Tom Hooper to decide that there should be live singing but it has worked out well and made the film a lot better than it would have been. 'Les Miserables' is almost three hours long but it is not a chore to watch, there is no point where you feel bored or that the plot is moving along slowly. The whole film builds up to a truly fantastic climax that raises everyone's spirits.
Overall, this is a highly emotional musical which I think will bring them back into fashion. If they're all as good as Les Mis then I welcome them.