2012’s “Les Miserables”, directed by Tom Hooper.
Starring Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, Russell Crowe, Amanda
Seyfried, Eddie Redmaine, Aaron Tveit, Samantha Barks, Helena Bonham Carter,
and Sacha Baron Cohen.
What is it about?
Set in France around the French Revolution of the early 19th
century, Hugh Jackman plays a convicted criminal, serving 19 years in prison
for stealing a loaf of bread. Out on parole with the deck stacked against him,
he is shown mercy and compassion by a church member, and he changes his
identity to start a successful business. Constantly hunted by a fascist policeman
(Russell Crowe), Jackman one day helps out an employee (Anne Hathaway) who is
having troubles raising her daughter before passing away. Jackman takes
Hathaway’s daughter away from her greedy inn keeper caregivers (Helena Bonham
Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen), and raises her to become Amanda Seyfried.
Seyfried and Jackman find their lives changed by the French Revolution, lead by
Aaron Tveit and Eddie Redmaine. Seyfried and Redmaine fall in love at first
sight, and their relationship becomes tested as the French radicals intensify
their battles in the streets. Will love conquer all as the resistance
continues?
Why is it worth seeing?
As I’ve indicated in previous reviews, I’m not a huge fan of musicals. I remain confounded by the
art form of using a song to tell a story that typically sounds better when spoken
at a normal clip (or not at all, one of the principle strengths of cinema). But
variety is the spice of life, and director Tom Hooper (fresh off of the robbery
of 2010’s Best Picture for his “The King’s Speech” over the superior, “The
Social Network”) here brings some kinetic motion and memorable images to the
musical classic, “Les Miserables”.
It should be pointed out that I don’t know the musical that
well, and therefore can’t comment on it’s translation as a film from the play.
I do know when that can feel awkward,
so I speak only as a lover of film.
It’s always a delight to watch so many Hollywood sluggers reach
out of their comfort zones, and Hooper puts the majority of the cast front and
centre. Jackman, Hathaway, and Redmaine leave nothing on the table, and Hathaway
was rewarded an Oscar for her efforts (however brief, reminding me of a
supersized version of Judi Dench’s win for “Shakespeare in Love”). Crowe on the
other hand, in his portrayal of the dogged and sense of perverted justice
police captain looks out of his league, and Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha
Baron Cohen’s comic jives are jarringly out of place (and don’t even mention
Cohen’s intermittent goofy french accent).
More of a stitching together of individual performances than
a cohesive whole, nobody said adopting a classic musical to a movie is easy,
but the movie does itself few favours. With a barrage of strange camera angles
and way more cuts than are necessary, it may make you turn it off to go and see
the play instead. The other issue with a movie being adapted from a musical is
they break a basic rule of movie making: show, don’t tell sing.
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