Hearing of the prospects of Maximus, Wolverine and Catwoman in one movie understandably got me and my fellow cinenerds quite excited. Then when it was clarified that it would be Russell Crowe, Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway coming together for an adaptation of the novel, turned movie, turned musical and finally turned into movie musical known as "Les Miserables". Needless to say my excitement dimmed just a little bit...
The source material to which "Les Miserables" is based upon is probably, in my mind one of the greatest novels ever written. To this point that is my only point of reference as I have never seen any other film or stage version, until now. I was actually dreading seeing this movie, I really have nothing against musicals "West Side Story" and "Rocky Horror Picture Show" are two of my favorites but with "Les Miz" it seems like the promotion and advertising started in September and went into overdrive in the weeks leading up to the Christmas day release. The fact that this is apparently the first time that actors have been able to sing live on set and not pre record their songs was something the producers wanted you to know, wanted your grandmother to know and wanted your dog to know because it was everywhere. Add in annoying Anne Hathaway's press tour and sharing of how difficult it was to shave her head on camera and how much she apparently has in common with a 19th century poor French line worker turned prostitute and this was turning into another overhyped Hollywood product.
So bottom line, how is it? Maybe it was the lowered expectations but it is actually a very ok movie, the first hour is absolutely fantastic, the middle drags and the end improves on that. The story is of prisoner Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) who is released but closely watched by Inspector Javert (Russell Crowe), a series of events leads to Valjean changing his identity, becoming an outstanding member of the community and caring for a child whose mother Fantine (Anne Hathaway) has died. All while under the constant pursuit of Javert and all underneath the backdrop of the French Revolution. The story itself is epic and the production design and costumes promote this in all its glory. All the actors are game for their roles, Hugh Jackman is able to command the screen even without an adamantium skeleton. Much has been made, or hyped about Anne Hathaway's performance probably because she gets the signature song of "I Dreamed a Dream". I found the performance overall overrated, she has a very good voice but you shouldn't get an Oscar for shaving your head, wearing bad teeth prosthetics and having your breasts fondled by dirty French soldiers. If Hathaway does get nominated for Best Supporting Actress it should be for "The Dark Knight Rises" as Selina Kyle/Catwoman, a role that actually was something I didn't expect her to be able to pull off but she did. The real surprise for me is Russell Crowe, I was expecting more of a Pierce Brosnan in "Mama Mia" type of performance from him here but he actually goes all in and even without the best singing voice he steals every scene that he is in-he gives a performance.
As talked about in other posts here a big problem is the running time, "Les Miz" clocks in at 2 hours and 38 minutes, I'm not one of these proponents against long running times, if its warranted its completely acceptable. The middle portion here though drags almost to a complete stop, I'm sure diehard fans of the musical would call blasphemy if any musical numbers were cut out but I think it would of been for the films benefit had they done so. Most notably the storyline of Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bohham Carter as the innkeepers could have easily been removed from the final cut. The other big issue for me was the accents in the film, accents range from American to cockney British, the one that's missing: French. I think "bonjour" and "monsieur" are the only bits of French said in the whole production.
I was expecting "Les Miserables" to be an utter train wreck and for better or worse it wasn't, aspects of it are outstanding as well as pointless and overdone. Its a film that screams "nominate me!" which it probably will, deserving in some categories (production design) and unconscionable in others (best picture). For the meantime I'll be waiting for the inevitable "Book of Mormon" adaptation.
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