Les Miz the Movie

So who saw it?

I, like apparently half the world Jewish population, went and saw it Christmas Day.

I love Les Miz. I've seen it five times onstage, I own the Complete Symphonic Recording, I've done songs from the show professionally. I've read the novel many times and enjoyed it every time. I thought the movie was a mixed bag, though, overall, good. Let's break it down:

Hugh Jackman as Valjean, Anne Hathaway as Fantine, both stupefyingly awesome. Amazing performances, amazing singing, just amazing. She was the best Fantine I've seen, he was at least as good as Gary Morris as Valjean.

Amanda Seyfried was shockingly good as Cosette. Had no idea she could sing, and was unsure of her acting ability, but she showed both. Maybe the best Cosette I've ever seen.

Samantha Barks was an excellent Eponine. Right up there with some of the best I've seen. Eddie Redmayne...very, very good, but not great. Excellent voice, terrific performance: he looked a little too much like a goober for me to be convinced of him as Marius, who's supposed to be dreadfully good-looking.

Aaron Tveidt and company as Enjolras and the ABC students: good, but no standouts. I've seen better, I've seen worse. They were fine. Same with the kids they had playing Gavroche and Little Cosette: fine, but not notable.

Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter as the Thenardiers: disappointing. They didn't suck, but for two such talented people, they gave remarkably flat and lackluster performances. Had they been anyone else, I probably would judge them a little better for not having had expectations of them, but....

Russell Crowe. Wow, did he suck. I mean, wow. That was, far and away, not only the worst performance of Javert I have ever seen or heard, it would be hard to imagine him being much worse. Stiff as a board, lacking any visible human emotion or passion-- let alone the rigorous contained anger of Javert; and not just without the booming, magesterial voice that a Javert ought to have, but lacking any kind of performance-quality voice at all. He was just so, so bad. So very bad.

The adaptation of the libretto/book into the screenplay was largely faithful, and I appreciated that some of the changes they made reflected faithfulness to the novel. But their cuts were often intrusive and cack-handed, and the additional material was deeply inferior to the original.

I thought the art direction was excellent; the direction and cinematography mostly good, but with a few poor choices; but the sound was terrible for a blockbuster movie musical. They deeply needed a far richer, louder, better-supported sound mix.

Thoughts? Agreement? Disagreement?

 

I have already commented on the movie in PA. I went in expecting disappointment and came out very happy with the film. Totally agree with you, Levite on Jackman, Hathaway and Sigfried. Their performances blew me away.

I had heard bad reviews of Crowe's performance, especially the singing, before seeing the movie. I thought his portrayal was too mechanical and unemotional. I suspect that he can't sing through emotion in the manner that Jackman and Hathaway demonstrated. I felt Javert could have been much better, but it didn't ruin the movie for me.

The same goes for Cohen and Carter. "Master of the House" was probably the most disappointing musical number in the movie. It was dark and cynical and had none of the raucous bawdiness I wanted to hear. The comic relief their characters were supposed to provide was totally absent. But even this didn't ruin the movie for me.

Jackman, Hathaway, Barks and Redmayne (my daughter loves his freckles) delivered the goods for me. I expected top-notch acting, but the singing from this group was much better than I had let myself hope for. While I didn't break down and cry at Valjean's death, a lot of folks in the audience did.

Bottom line: not perfect, but I loved it. I do intend to see it a gain.

Oh... the theater we went to had an excellent sound system.

 

Never have seen the musical version of it but I do like the 1937 Mutual radio series with Orson Welles.

 

I loved it.

Levite, do you think your opinion of the sound quality might have anything to do with the live recording of the singing for the movie? It wasn't dubbed in this version. I saw the film in a theater with excellent sound quality, and I was impressed ("director's hall" with assigned seating, leather seats, and fancy pants sound).


View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwgQjfg0hZw

 

I thought it was great. Disappointed with Crowe, but was pleased with almost everyone else. I loved that it was live singing, it made it so much more believable. Hathaway blew me away. Almost started crying during "I dreamed a dream". She is incredible at injecting emotions. Overall very pleased.

 

Yeah, I was very pleased overall, too.

BTW, PP, I've heard several people now say they found nothing wrong with the sound, which makes me wonder if the theater I went to had a faulty print.

In any case, I don't mind admitting that I cried like a baby through around half the film. Operas always get me in ways regular drama can't or doesn't. I always cry at "I Dreamed A Dream," "A Heart Full Of Love," "A Little Fall Of Rain," "Empty Chairs At Empty Tables" and Valjean's death at the end. This was no different.

 

It's on my must see list, everything I heard about it has been excellent.

 

Well, not everybody loves the movie. Adam Lambert may have a great singing voice, but has done nothing to cause me to lend any credibility to his opinions.

Adam Lambert Slams Les Miserables Cast: They're "Great Actors Pretending to Be Singers" - Yahoo! omg!

 

Yeah, I will definitely prioritize the theatrical critiques of a pop star who was runner-up on "American Idol."...

 

You know some of us actually have to work ;-)

 

Agree with everyone's comment on the movie. I had a hard time deciphering what each person was saying because they were singing, but I was able to decipher based on their emotion or performance.

 

I really want to watch this again, but I'm going to wait until I can watch it at home, for breaks and stretching out and such.

Samantha Barks and Anne Hathaway were definitely my favorites. Crowe just didn't seem to have that.... OOMPH needed for Javert.