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My Spoilery Review of Les Miserables
Dec. 25th, 2012 10:53 pmWARNING: HERE BE SPOILERS.
Les Miserables is EXCELLENT. If you have not yet seen it, it is one that must be seen in theaters to get the full emotional impact. It is very, very different from the stage show(granted I've only seen the Concerts, but the point still stands), but as a movie, it works amazingly well. Some of the songs are changed around-for the better, I think.
The performances I would rank as follows from Best to Quite Good(IMHO, there's no 'Worst'-all the actors did excellent jobs.)
Anne Hathaway NAILS Fantine. Her performance was responsible for most of my crying. Anything you might have heard about her being worthy of the Oscar is 1000% true. When she sings "I Dreamed A Dream", the raw despair in her voice left a very large lump in my throat.
Hugh Jackman as Valjean was also wonderful. I loved his progression from a dangerous convict to a loving father to Cosette. He brings an emotional..I don't want to say fragility to the role, but you can see him starting to open up to his adopted daughter and later to Marius.
Russel Crowe as Javert. I know, I was skeptical too, but he blew me away with how good he really was. His singing suited his character, and he and Jackman played off each other very well indeed. The Confrontation was nail-bitingly suspenseful, and in my humble opinion, both 'Stars' and 'Javert's Suicide' were wonderful. They both have a very interesting visual that I won't give away. There's also a scene that makes him seem more human than he ever did in the stage show.
Eddie Redmayne as Marius. 'Empty Chairs at Empty Tables'. That is all. He's great all 'round, but that song...he nailed it.
Daniel Huttlestone/Aron Tveit as Gavroche and Enjorlas. Both excellent, and little Gavroche is so flipping adorable! He even gets an extra verse in 'Look Down'.
Samantha Barks as Eponine. Very good debut.
Cohen/Carter as the Thenardiers-welcome comic relief.
And of course, honorable mention must go to Colm Wilkinson as the Bishop of Digne.
Songs from Great to Good: I'll only include songs that had more than one verse.
I Dreamed a Dream
Confrontation
One Day More
Lovely Ladies
Look Down
Prologue
Do You Hear The People Sing?
Stars
Bring Him Home
Red And Black
On My Own
Master of the House
Come To Me
Javert's Suicide
At the End of the Day
Epilogue
Les Miserables is EXCELLENT. If you have not yet seen it, it is one that must be seen in theaters to get the full emotional impact. It is very, very different from the stage show(granted I've only seen the Concerts, but the point still stands), but as a movie, it works amazingly well. Some of the songs are changed around-for the better, I think.
The performances I would rank as follows from Best to Quite Good(IMHO, there's no 'Worst'-all the actors did excellent jobs.)
Anne Hathaway NAILS Fantine. Her performance was responsible for most of my crying. Anything you might have heard about her being worthy of the Oscar is 1000% true. When she sings "I Dreamed A Dream", the raw despair in her voice left a very large lump in my throat.
Hugh Jackman as Valjean was also wonderful. I loved his progression from a dangerous convict to a loving father to Cosette. He brings an emotional..I don't want to say fragility to the role, but you can see him starting to open up to his adopted daughter and later to Marius.
Russel Crowe as Javert. I know, I was skeptical too, but he blew me away with how good he really was. His singing suited his character, and he and Jackman played off each other very well indeed. The Confrontation was nail-bitingly suspenseful, and in my humble opinion, both 'Stars' and 'Javert's Suicide' were wonderful. They both have a very interesting visual that I won't give away. There's also a scene that makes him seem more human than he ever did in the stage show.
Eddie Redmayne as Marius. 'Empty Chairs at Empty Tables'. That is all. He's great all 'round, but that song...he nailed it.
Daniel Huttlestone/Aron Tveit as Gavroche and Enjorlas. Both excellent, and little Gavroche is so flipping adorable! He even gets an extra verse in 'Look Down'.
Samantha Barks as Eponine. Very good debut.
Cohen/Carter as the Thenardiers-welcome comic relief.
And of course, honorable mention must go to Colm Wilkinson as the Bishop of Digne.
Songs from Great to Good: I'll only include songs that had more than one verse.
I Dreamed a Dream
Confrontation
One Day More
Lovely Ladies
Look Down
Prologue
Do You Hear The People Sing?
Stars
Bring Him Home
Red And Black
On My Own
Master of the House
Come To Me
Javert's Suicide
At the End of the Day
Epilogue
