{"id":31988,"date":"2012-12-31T18:54:00","date_gmt":"2013-01-01T01:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/?p=31988"},"modified":"2012-12-31T18:54:00","modified_gmt":"2013-01-01T01:54:00","slug":"movie-review-les-miserables-2012","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/12\/31\/movie-review-les-miserables-2012.html","title":{"rendered":"Movie Review: Les Mis\u00e9rables<\/i> (2012)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Okay, we’ll start off with the bottom line: \u00a0I liked this movie. A lot.<\/p>\n

Les Mis<\/em> is not a perfect show by any means. It’s an intentional tear-jerker full of treacly romance and soul-wrenching tragedy and improbabilities galore, with a dollop of slapstick thrown in just to keep people from slitting their wrists by the middle. \u00a0Every one of those flaws shows up in this movie.<\/p>\n

Part of what makes up for all of that is the amazing, almost-impossible-not-to-sing-along-to music, and that’s the movie’s greatest strength and greatest weakness.<\/p>\n

So in the interest of honesty, let me talk a bit about things in the movie (trying to avoid spoilers) that bugged me — and how some of them didn’t bug me enough to take away from the overall product.<\/p>\n

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First off, Russell Crowe and Hugh Jackman were asked to sing songs above their range — Crowe, in particular, and early on in the film, has trouble with this. \u00a0Part of that stems from the range of the songs themselves. Part of it is that while stage productions somehow encourage and tolerate theatrical, even falsetto, singing, it strikes a viewer as odd in a movie<\/em>\u00a0musical.<\/p>\n

At the same time, there’s a charm to the rather daring step of recording the music live on the set, rather than lip-syncing it in — and in having the music follow the singer, not the other way around. \u00a0It adds a naturalness (even when the above problem occurs), it encourages the occasional speaking of sung lines (in a way that feels right, not in a Rex Harrison or Richard Harris “I can’t really sing all that well” kind of way), and it makes some of the long, sustained notes seem all the more remarkable.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Perhaps a greater sin is that Crowe’s music style, as Javert, is all too often sloppy, with scoops a-plenty. This is particularly so in his key song, “Stars,” though he redeems himself a bit in his finale — and I think, despite that, Crowe does an overall a good job in his acting<\/em>\u00a0in one of my favorite stage roles.<\/p>\n

Some folks have criticized the use of many, many, many <\/em>close-ups during the singing (bearing in mind that almost all the show is <\/em>singing). \u00a0This didn’t actually bother me. At first, I thought it was a nice contrast to a stage production, where the actors\/singers are so far away. \u00a0I came to realize that it actually echoes <\/em>the stage experience in some ways, by focusing on the singer and the song, and not on the luscious cinematic visuals all around. \u00a0This isn’t The Sound of Music<\/em>\u00a0with big, swooping aerial shots or gorgeous backdrops to the songs. \u00a0Those kinds of things are in the film, but not so much when people are belting out a tune. \u00a0Then it’s about the singer<\/em>, and a focus on the words, not a distraction of the amazing Paris, etc., being portrayed. \u00a0I thought it worked, and added still more life and meaning to the way the music was handled.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I’m not a big fan of the\u00a0Th\u00e9nardiers in Les Mis,<\/em> and this movie didn’t change that. \u00a0They’re the comic relief one finds in a lot of Shakespeare, but they tend to take center stage too much here, and their scenes tend to be everything the rest of the musical isn’t — schtick, fancy footwork and staging, and just plain conventional. As well, Sacha Baron Cohen and\u00a0Helena Bonham Carter just didn’t cut it for me as the larcenous couple.<\/p>\n

But they were among the few actors who didn’t nail their roles. Hugh Jackman does a great Jean Valjean (and is barely recognizable in his early prisoner guise, where he’d lost 30 lbs. and went on a 36 hour water diet to come across as more emaciated). Though there were a few “Hey, Wolverine!” moments for me midway through, as well as a few times as he aged where he began to look oddly like Mel Gibson, I thought he did a spendid job.<\/p>\n

I already mentioned Crowe. Anne Hathaway’s Fantine is tortured and exquisite, and her “I Dreamed a Dream” is an excellent rendition; she lost 25 lbs. for the role, and it paid off.\u00a0Amanda Seyfried does a decent job with the older Cosette (Isabelle Allen’s younger Cosette is spot on). \u00a0Samantha Barks’s Eponyne is perhaps a bit too glamorous-looking, but she carries the role well. Eddie Redmayne starts of well enough as Marius (a kind of goofy role), but then brings down the house with his “Empty Chairs and Empty Tables” number. And all the supporting cast members — peasants, whores, revolutionaries — do a good job as well.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The pacing of the movie gets a bit hinky in places to be sure. Scenes abut one another sometimes abruptly, without the transitions that a stage production would have. There’s a decent effort to provide some historical context (visually and with a short introductory scroll), as well as flag how time is passing, but, as with the original show, it’s sometimes tough to keep track of where and when one is.<\/p>\n

Overall, though, the music, the production values, and the quality of the actors, carry this one off. \u00a0I can understand where folks might not like it as well as I did — but I plan on picking it up on disc when it comes out, as I think it will bear rewatching multiple times in the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Okay, we’ll start off with the bottom line: \u00a0I liked this movie. A lot. Les Mis is not a perfect show by any means. It’s an intentional tear-jerker full of treacly romance and soul-wrenching tragedy and improbabilities galore, with a dollop of slapstick thrown in just to keep people from slitting their wrists by the … Continue reading “Movie Review: Les Mis\u00e9rables<\/i> (2012)”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":31995,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[41,76],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-media-movies","category-media-stage"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/lesmischar-th.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":129867,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/02\/17\/best-movie-title-ever.html","url_meta":{"origin":31988,"position":0},"title":"Best. Movie. Title. Ever","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 17-Feb-16 10:45pm","format":false,"excerpt":"I have no idea if this movie is good, or bad, or inspiring, or boring, or what.But the title of this movie about Jesse Owens is simply, thoroughly, once-in-a-lifetime brilliant. Race Jesse Owens' quest to become the greatest track and field athlete in history thrusts him onto the world stage\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Race.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":148473,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2020\/02\/21\/movie-review-birds-of-prey-2020.html","url_meta":{"origin":31988,"position":1},"title":"Movie Review: “Birds of Prey” (2020)","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 21-Feb-20 10:50pm","format":false,"excerpt":"An enjoyable, if violent and loud, comic book action flick. Quite watchable and fun.","rel":"","context":"In "DC Media (DCEU, DCU)"","block_context":{"text":"DC Media (DCEU, DCU)","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media\/franchises\/dc-cinematic-univese"},"img":{"alt_text":"Birds of Prey","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/birds-of-prey-movie-poster.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/birds-of-prey-movie-poster.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/birds-of-prey-movie-poster.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":130137,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/03\/08\/movie-review-les-misrables-2012.html","url_meta":{"origin":31988,"position":2},"title":"Movie Review: "Les Misérables" (2012)","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 8-Mar-16 7:29am","format":false,"excerpt":"First installment in Father\/Daughter Movie Week: a flawed but luscious cinematic adaptation of that stage show that will give me ear worms for the next several weeks.New review: http:\/\/letterboxd.com\/three_star_dave\/film\/les-miserables-2012\/1\/Original review: http:\/\/letterboxd.com\/three_star_dave\/film\/les-miserables-2012\/4 stars out of 5 (but with a \"I love it\" heart) \u00a0 View on Google+","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Les-Miserables5B15D.jpgimgmax%3D660.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":51751,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/07\/15\/making-a-good-superman-movie.html","url_meta":{"origin":31988,"position":3},"title":"Making a good Superman movie","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 15-Jul-15 10:18am","format":false,"excerpt":"Ultimately, a good movie is a good movie. I think it's a valid artistic choice to do a movie about Superman as a godlike \u00dcbermensch -- as long as the story is then not about him, but about how people relate to him (or not).Now, that's quite a bit difference\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41237,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/02\/27\/my-daughters-great-pain-during-fatherdaughter-movie-week.html","url_meta":{"origin":31988,"position":4},"title":"My daughter’s\u00a0greatest pain during Father\/Daughter Movie Week","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 27-Feb-14 9:48pm","format":false,"excerpt":"The cognitive dissonance of realizing that the guy who plays kindly Dr. Erskine in Captain America: The First Avenger is the guy who played Muerte (Morty) in Undercover Blues ...Sometimes a father (and IMDB) can be terribly, terribly cruel.\u00a0\ufeff Stanley Tucci View this post on Google+","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28028,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/05\/29\/les-miz-movie-coming-this-december.html","url_meta":{"origin":31988,"position":5},"title":"Les Miz movie coming this December","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 29-May-12 3:34pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Hadn't heard of it -- and had no idea these two gents could sing. Coolness. One of my favorite shows, and yet another thing to get to the theater for this holiday season. Embedded Link LES MISERABLES - Photos from the Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe\u00a0Musical - News - GeekTyrant\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31988"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31988\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}