Dreaming the 'Les Miz' Dream?

On Christmas Day, Les Miserables hit theaters across the country.  It was one of this year's most hyped and anticipated films.  Another film adaptation of the famous Broadway musical was released in 1998, but it wasn't a musical like this one.  I'm a musical junkie (Sound of Music and Phantom of the Opera are my favorites), I've never seen the stage play, and I read part of the classic Victor Hugo novel in high school, so it's safe to say I was pretty excited for the film.

(Side note: that book is super dense.)

And then I saw the cast list: Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, Russell Crowe, Amanda Seyfried and this really attractive actor I'd never seen before named Eddie Redmayne (Marius).  Oh, and Helena Bonham Carter.  I was game, especially to see the Princess of Genovia and Karen the dumb girl from "Mean Girls" in a more serious and darker film.

And so the film begins...

I had fairly high expectations for the film, but I wouldn't say they were sky high.  For the most part, I think they were met.  I was blown away by Anne Hathaway's performance as Fantine.  Even though her part was short-lived, I think she delivered arguably the most powerful performance in the entire film.  And I knew she could sing, but wow.  Talk about heart-wrenching.  I'm so glad she won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress, and I hope she gets the Oscar for it, too.  If anyone deserves it, it's her.

Speaking of people I didn't know could sing...Amanda Seyfried!  I'll admit, all I could think about when she first appeared was, "so wait, if you're from Africa, why are you white?" and "there's a 30% chance it's already raining!"  But don't worry, that didn't last for very long.  I was pleasantly surprised by her singing and thought her number with Redmayne and Samantha Barks (Eponine), "A Heart Full of Love," was beautiful.  Seyfried just has this innocent demeanor that plays wonderfully into the Cosette role.  I don't think I would have cast anyone else as Cosette.

Side note: It was reported a time or two that Taylor Swift had been offered the role of Eponine.  I'm glad Barks got it...we'll leave it at that.

Now that I've covered the main female parts, let's talk about the men of the movie.  Hugh Jackman?  Cool.  I thought he did a nice job as Jean Valjean, especially in the beginning when he goes through the "Who Am I?" phase.  Jackman is good at crazy.  Was I blown away by him?  Not quite.  Best Actor worthy?  Not when he's listed in the same category with Denzel Washington and Daniel Day-Lewis.  Sorry, Mr. Jackman.

I've mentioned him already, but let's go back for a minute.  Eddie Redmayne.  He's extremely handsome and can sing.  What more could we want?  His scenes were touching and genuine, and, close behind Anne Hathaway, I think were the most emotional scenes in the film.  I noted "A Heart Full of Love" above, but I cannot write this post without talking about "A Little Fall of Rain."  I didn't actually cry during the film--heartless, I know--but I came close there.

And finally Mr. Crowe, who played the inspector Javert.  This is a hard one for me to critique and judge.  I think Russell Crowe is a fantastic actor, but I can't decide how I liked him in this role.  Maybe it was the singing.  One of my favorite songs from the musical is "Stars," and thanks to a friend, I've been listening to the 10th Anniversary concert album for the past several years.  That version of "Stars" is incredible, and I think that's what I was expecting from Crowe.  Unfortunately, that's not what I got.  I know it might be silly to judge an actor's performance on one song or scene, but I couldn't help it.  Javert is such a powerful role, and I guess I wanted more.

I cannot write about Les Miserables without mentioning Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter.  Comic relief at its finest.  Granted, Cohen was a little creepy, but it fits him and the character.  We all know the plot of Les Miserables isn't exactly light-hearted and happy, so I think those two were needed, and they worked.  "Please take care of our little Collette!" ... "It's Cosette."

Side note: My favorite moment from the Golden Globes was when Cohen came out to present, and made this comment about fellow cast member Crowe: "Russell Crowe took four months of singing lessons.  THAT was money well spent."  I won't lie, not bad for four months, but still not fantastic.  10 points to Cohen!

As far as the film as a whole goes, I enjoyed it.  I won't say I loved it, because honestly, I didn't.  I would have appreciated more spoken dialogue and a little less singing, because at times I had a hard time following what was being said.  And sometimes it's just nice to have a little breather after a big musical number.  Some of the camera angles were a little odd for my taste, but that's kind of a small thing to consider in this case.

Les Miserables is nominated for Best Picture in the 2013 Oscars.  I'm going to get grilled for this, I know, but I don't think it's Best Picture-worthy.  Was it well done overall?  Sure.  Did I enjoy it?  Yes.  But up against films such as Zero Dark Thirty, Argo, Lincoln and others, I think it would be a very long shot for Les Miz to win.  But I definitely want Anne Hathaway to win in her category.  Can we call that a compromise?

One final note before I close this out: Les Miz takes place after the French Revolution, not during it!  They even tell you that at the beginning of the film!

(You're welcome, Jordan.)