Les Misérables

WARNING: This review is hidden because it reveals the content of the film.
Click here to show this review. Hey, I'll take the criticism of not being 'cultured' enough, but I personally just can't get behind the whole idea of singing virtually every line in a play or a movie, especially when I don't find the songs or music particularly brilliant. Anne Hathaway was a brilliantly bright little bit of spotlight in the first half hour, or a few minute of that half hour. Her one stirring, even moving number far outshone the next two hours or so of musical drudgery I struggled to pay attention to. Again, in the last moments of the show, a bit of a duet with Hugh Jackman and Hathaway was the only other bit of music I more than just tolerated."How are you today? " for my tastes, simply doesn't need to be sung. Break out in song, by all means. I've seen Astaire and Kelly, hell, even Hope and Crosby, or more recently musicals about music and performing where it was infinitely more reasonable. Think Chicago, Moulin Rouge, but singing about ever step you take, every object you wipe, or every door you open is something I can't help be distracted by, particularly when the singing itself is far from amazing, with the exceptions I mentioned above, of course. Still, I recognize this is a tale from a long ago era that nostalgically waxed overly poetic at every turn and that I'm personally not a fair judge, so I'll recognize it deserves a little higher score than I might normally give for this level of personal entertainment. And despite the mockery he took, I didn't find Crowe a particularly weak singer relative to many others.