Les Miserables Movie Review by Leia Shaw

This weekend I saw the movie Les Miserables. You may not notice but I’m a total musical geek. I’ve been singing to the Les Mis soundtrack since Middle School. I’ve seen the show on stage twice. This was a big deal to me as a fan. And so this review is written for other fans of the show, or people who are curious about the actors involved. If you’ve never seen the show, heard it, heard of it, or want anything to do with it, come back next week for a more generalized post. Lol.

Hugh Jackman should win an award for this movie. More than just one. Like, twelve. I don’t know. How many do they give out at the Academies anyway? I never watch cause they only ever pick the boring movies and Meryl Streep. So predictable. Anyway, Hugh Jackman plays Jean Valjean, an ex-convict who spends the movie trying to escape his past. He carried the movie. I knew he could sing, I’ve seen it and heard it before. I knew he could act too. But I didn’t expect the depth of his ability. It was amazing.

Anne Hathaway plays Fantine, the down-on-her-luck mother of a little girl she pays an innkeeper and his wife to care for. I didn’t know she could sing. Like most of the big actors they pulled in for the movie, you can tell they’re actors and not trained singers, but she did a respectful job. The acting in I Dreamed a Dreamed made up for her voice. What was different about this musical in comparison with others, was that they shot the most emotional scenes in one shot with the singing live on set instead of dubbed from a studio. This made for imperfect vocal performances BUT incredible acting. So you felt as if you were really hearing a tragic telling of life in 1800′s France. Like each of the characters was truly there, not just acting. It was a good compromise for lack of perfection in the vocals.

The innkeepers, Thenardier and Madame Thenardier were played by Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter who brought a lot of lightheartedness and humor into the movie, which it sorely needed.

Eddie Redmayne and Samantha Barks are the real singers. Barks played Eponine on stage for years and, as expected, was great in the film. Redmayne is a real singer but an actor too. I thought he played the conflicted but love-sick young man, Marius, very well. His love interest, a grown up Cosette, was played by Amanda Sigfried. You may have heard her sing in Mama Mia. I loved her in that movie, and she looks the part of Cosette perfectly. But like the other big names they pulled for the movie, her voice was shaky in the operatic soprano role. It was still good though.

Russell Crowe was the big disappointment. I’m a Gladiator fan but the man should seriously stick to taking off his shirt and swinging swords. His voice literally hurt my ears. He’s a great actor but the role didn’t fit him, he was way outclassed in the music department, and I have no idea why he was chosen for the role.

Fans of the show will most likely enjoy this film adaption. I did. I cried my eyes out for almost the entire two hours and thirty seven minutes. If you haven’t seen Les Mis or heard the soundtrack but like musicals, I’d recommend seeing this but be prepared for an emotional experience. This isn’t a happy, carefree, fun music adventure. It’s tragic. And very sad.

If the word “opera” scares the shit out of you and the idea of paying attention to two hours of sung plot makes your head spin, I don’t recommend seeing this movie.

Filed under: romance