UNIVERSAL PICTURES, LAURIE SPARHAM Hugh Jackman holds Isabelle Allen in a scene from "Les Misérables." |
Let me put this out there right at the start: I don't
"get" musicals.
Maybe I'm being shortsighted, but they just don't make much
sense to me. I know the genre is no more artificial than any other, yet I can't
help wondering how all the characters knows all the words, melodies and dance
steps. (Maybe these are the original flash mobs, and the filmmakers left out
the scenes of them planning their little get-togethers.) And I simply don't
care for the music of most musicals, which probably is my biggest problem.
However, I can sit back and admire parts of "Les
Misérables" without becoming remotely engaged in the material.
Directed by Tom Hooper ("The King's Speech), the movie
is based on the popular stage musical by Alain Boubil, Claude-Michel Schonberg
and Herbert Kretzmer, which in turn was based on the 1862 novel by Victor Hugo.
This is the first film adaptation of the musical, which premiered in 1980 in France and 1987
on Broadway.
With virtually no spoken dialogue, Hooper had the actors
sing live on the set, lending an immediacy and intimacy to the performances
that's rare for a musical. They might not hit every note perfectly, and that is
a welcome change of pace.
Hugh Jackman leads a stellar cast as Jean Valjean,
imprisoned for 19 years for stealing a loaf of bread, now free on parole.
Struggling to find his way in the world, he's taken in by a kindly bishop, who
encourages him to start a new life. After breaking parole, he reinvents
himself, and eight years later, he's become Monsieur Madeleine, owner of a
factory and mayor of Montreuil-sur-Mer.
One of his factory workers, Fantine (Anne Hathaway in a
heartbreaking turn), resorts to selling herself after she loses her job due to
the discovery of her illegitimate child. Valjean comes to her aid, and with
Fantine near death, promises to care for her daughter, Cosette. At the same
time, Inspector Javert (Russell Crowe) recognizes Valjean as the ex-convict he
has been hunting ever since he broke his parole nearly a decade earlier.
While eluding Javert, Valjean collects Cosette (Isabelle
Allen) from a pair of crooked innkeepers, the Thénardiers (a scene-stealing
Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter), and spends the next nine years
raising her in anonymity.
UNIVERSAL PICTURES, JAMES FISHER Eddie Redmayne, left, and Amanda Seyfried are shown in a scene from "Les Misérables." |
Given the stage musical's immense popularity, there is a
built-in audience for this that knows the story and won't care about narrative
issues, such as a lack of focus and a running time that stretches beyond
two-and-a-half hours.
They "get" it, and I don't, which doesn't make
either of us right or wrong. I#<\p>at least can recognize "Les
Misérables" as being well acted (Hathaway seems most likely to garner
awards consideration), and you probably can tell if it's for you regardless of
anything I write.
Greg’s Grade: C
(Rated PG-13 for suggestive and sexual material, violence
and thematic elements. 157 minutes.)
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