Les Miserables - The Musical Movie

[smokymountainrain]

Of course. But it isn't as easy to catch live as it used to be.

I didn't mean to poo poo the 25th anniversary show as it is excellent, but when he implied he might find a live show, I just wanted to encourage that.

[smokymountainrain]

Still haven't seen it, despite the wife wanting me to see it with her. She did see it with her sisters last week when the oldest sister was in town for the funeral. But I digress.

The closest I've come to seeing it was back in about '92 or so when a production came through Salt Lake during a national tour. Tommy John's kid was in this production. I met the young Mr. John and several of the cast members at the no longer in business Wagonmasters Steakhouse in Murray when I was there with one of my wife's cousins to pick up gentleman who had choked to death while dining with his family.

I distinctly remember Taylor John telling me about what had happened as we were waiting for the Murray Police to release the body so we could transport it to the medical examiner. He said something like "I was watching the guy eat because he was taking really big bites. All of a sudden, he started choking and his family tried to help him, but he fell on the ground and turned blue. But this place is really cool because we get to sit in saddles and eat dinner."

Maybe I'll see it, but musicals are difficult for me to bear. But I'll let you folks get back to talking about it and won't jump in again.

Wagonmasters! I loved that place.

[dabrockster]

Our Anniversary is coming up on Feb 12th. This weekend we were able to have a day and a Night to ourselves and we went to see this Movie. As kind of a reminder of when I proposed to my wife (I proposed to my wife at The Roof before we went to the Broadway show in SLC.). It was nice to do it again..

The show was good. We both enjoyed it. We found it to be good (Still would rather see the Broadway Show) and Anne Hathaway was so emotional in her part. There were so many good pieces in it.. We thought Hugh Jackman was great as well..

Overall we gave it an applause but no Standing Ovation...

[Realtall]

A review I posted on FB a couple of weeks ago:

I recently saw Les Miserables: The Movie this past weekend and, being the world's foremost authority on said musical(tic) several(well, a couple anyways) people have asked my opinion of it. So here it is.

Problems:
1. The pacing, particularly in the first half of the movie, was rushed. I realize that the movie was 158 minutes as is but it still lost some of it's drama because of what got left out or glossed over. What comes to mind the most is when Jean Valjean gets busted with the priest's silver. He tells the cops that the priest 'gave' him the silver at which they all but roll their eyes. They then haul him back to the priest & reiterate Valjean's story. The priest then says, "Yup, that's pretty much it. But why did you leave the nicest silver behind?" at which point he presents Valjean with two huge candlesticks. The moment following that should have been the king(or queen) of all pregnant pauses. The novel describes it best, 'Jean Valjean opened his eyes wide, and stared at the venerable Bishop with an expression which no human tongue can render any account of.' The moment was pivotal in the development of the character of Jean Valjean and could have been done very nicely on the big screen. Contrast that with the stage production where is is often very difficult to communicate anything requiring close ups to fully appreciate.

The movie, of course, blew right through it.

2. NO BASS TROMBONE IN 'MASTER OF THE HOUSE' SCENE. What???!!! Are you trying to KILL me? That is such a wonderful part and gives the scene such character. Also, ALL the brass was muted in the scene. Very disappointing.

3. Russell Crowe(Javert). I hate to criticize the guy because he's made so many wonderful movies but it was clear to me that he was there solely for his star power. It sure wasn't for his singing. He performed 'Stars' with all the skill and charisma of a wet carpet. There are so many wonderful broadway stars that would kill for a chance and would have done wonderfully but their name wasn't Russell Crowe. Terry Mann, where are you when we need you?

4. Amanda Seyfried(Cosette). Why? WHY?! She isn't even that big of a star. Every piece that she sang in seemed like she was trying to warble me into submission. See, 'Russell Crowe.'

Strengths

1. Eddie Redmayne(Marius). 'Empty Chairs at Empty Table' was absolutely a showstopper. He should have been nominated for a best supporting actor Oscar for this song alone. A gem of a talent.

2. Anne Hathaway(Fantine). Color me surprised. I had really expected Anne to be a super light soprano, a la Amanda Seyfried. She had surprising depth of color in both her acting and her singing including excellent communication of the depths of human misery that her character had to endure. Bravo.

3. Samantha Barks(Eponine). I had never heard of her before this movie but she did an excellent job with, 'On My Own.' Her acting was very good.

4. Hugh Jackman(Jean Valjean). Overall a very solid performance, although "Bring Him Home" was a bit weak. I suppose that everyone is next to Colm Wilkinson. Also, the director could have done a better job displaying Jean Valjean's legendary strength.

Overall, I was happy that I saw it. It was one of those films that I think gives you more information then the average person can take in in a single sitting so I may get the dvd. A solid 'B.'

[dabrockster]

A review I posted on FB a couple of weeks ago:

Ahem....

Samantha Barks.. She played the role of Eponine on the 25th Anniversary show..

[YOUTUBE]SNmgtkp6FGw[/YOUTUBE]


Also, The Priest played Valjean originally..

[YOUTUBE]sWbg8NIyVRA[/YOUTUBE]

[Realtall]

Ahem....

Samantha Barks.. She played the role of Eponine on the 25th Anniversary show..

[YOUTUBE]SNmgtkp6FGw[/YOUTUBE]


Also, The Priest played Valjean originally..

[YOUTUBE]sWbg8NIyVRA[/YOUTUBE]

Yes, I know. The problem with the candlestick scene was not the acting, it was the directing & editing and perhaps the screenwriting.

[Moliere]

Les Miserables - The Musical Movie

Yes, I know. The problem with the candlestick scene was not the acting, it was the directing & editing and perhaps the screenwriting.

Well that narrows it down quite a bit

[Realtall]

Well that narrows it down quite a bit

Let's try this again:

The pacing, particularly in the first half of the movie, was rushed. I realize that the movie was 158 minutes as is but it still lost some of it's drama because of what got left out or glossed over.

There were chunks left out that could have lent a lot to the movie. Whether they were left out due to editing(they were filmed but ultimately left out), directing(the director changed things to fit his wants or constraints), or writing(it was just left out for one reason or another) I have no idea. I wasn't present during filming. The fact is, they were left out.

[calicoug]

Having somehow dodged this musical my whole life I now understand the devotion people feel for it. I thought it was beautiful and I'm going to need to see it again and ultimately own it. I would have brought in more popcorn napkins if I had appreciated how much weeping there was going to be (music just does that to me). I need to let all my thoughts crystalize but I will say that my Eddie Redmayne fandom is certainly cemented and that Amanda Seyfried has been somewhat underrated. I thought her small voice/vibrato actually really worked.

I liked it overall but thought Russell Crowe was a miss. He seemed out of place to me throughout. Everyone else was fantastic.

[dabrockster]

Yes, I know. The problem with the candlestick scene was not the acting, it was the directing & editing and perhaps the screenwriting.

Direct Quote from your review:

3. Samantha Barks(Eponine). I had never heard of her before this movie but she did an excellent job with, 'On My Own.' Her acting was very good.

I merely pointed this out and also the Priest since you didn't know who Samantha was..

[Realtall]

Direct Quote from your review:



I merely pointed this out and also the Priest since you didn't know who Samantha was..

Sorry dabrockster. I did say it in a confusing manner.

What I said was that I had never heard of Samantha before the movie. What I left out is that I looked her, & other things particular to the movie, up afterwards.

[myboynoah]

Sorry dabrockster. I did say it in a confusing manner.

What I said was that I had never heard of Samantha before the movie. What I left out is that I looked her, & other things particular to the movie, up afterwards.

Looking at her career, she's a relative newcomer, especially to the Les Mis family (only playing Eponine in London from 2010-11), so it is not surprising that she would be overlooked. It's not as if she's Lea Salonga.

[dabrockster]

Sorry dabrockster. I did say it in a confusing manner.

What I said was that I had never heard of Samantha before the movie. What I left out is that I looked her, & other things particular to the movie, up afterwards.

No biggie. I just was confused and was only providing. "Did you know" kind of comments..

[Donuthole]

No biggie. I just was confused and was only providing. "Did you know" kind of comments..

i.e. "Did you know I learned this earlier in the thread."

[Paperback Writer]

Saw this movie last weekend and find myself in agreement with MarkGrace and NorthwestCoug (too much singing). I'm not welded to the Broadway production since I've never seen Les Miserables live but did enjoy the 25-year anniversary version. While I agree with Lebowski that there is a false dichotomy on having to choose acting or singing; so too is there a false dichotomy on choosing to make a film that is a redo of the Broadway musical or not having any singing at all (which already has been done recently with Hollywood actors). In my view, it would have been a better film with more dialog and less singing. And it would have been a more unique product that would have better utilized the skills of the cast. So I agree with Lebowski that if they were going with the choice of putting the Broadway production of Les Meserables on film, better voices should have been cast. But I think a better film would have resulted by taking the considerable talent that they cast and allow them to act more and sing less; resulting in a better film and one less comparable to the Boradway production.