Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Les Misérables (2012): Review

Staring: Hugh Jackman (Jean Valjean), Russell Crowe (Javert), Anne Hathaway (Fantine), Amanda Seyfried (Cosette), Sacha Baron Cohen (Thénardier), Helena Bohen Carter (Madame Thénardier), Madame Thénardier (Marius), and Samantha Barks (Éponine).

Les Misérables is set during the French Revolution and follows Jean Valjean through the course of sixteen years.  It weaves in and out of the connected lives of the main characters.  Prior to watching Les Misérables today, I had not seen the musical and was unfamiliar with more then the general story.  I went in not knowing what to expect but knowing that there are many people who have been anxiously awaiting this production.
It took me a while to get into the story and figure out the relationships of the main characters. I found the movie hard to follow, it would jump around, introducing characters that I was unfamiliar with, and expect me to know what was going on.
As a whole, my feelings toward this movie are conflicted, as I wanted to like it more but I just didn't.  I was able to emotionally connect to some of the characters and felt their hardships but, at times I was distracted and not pulled into the world of the movie.
I was disappointed in Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe, who were the two characters at the heart of the story. Neither of them felt like they embodied their characters, and when there were alone on screen, I had difficulty connecting or caring about either of them. I found myself wanting to see more of the other characters.  Although, the two male leads were disappointing the female leads were fantastic, especially Anne Hathaway.  They brought me into their experiences and I was definitely rooting for them to succeed and sad when they suffered.
Throughout the movie I felt claustrophobic and I was disappointed that many of the scenes where shot very close into the actors, at times I really wished that the camera would just back up and let me see what was going on, not just the face of the actor singing.  The location within France could have been used and the set pieces had the appearance of being big but were not shown or highlighted.
Overall, it was fine but no where near as special as it could have been or what I wanted.
This is a movie to be seen only by people who like musicals and period pieces and is not for everyone.

My rating: 2-

No comments:

Post a Comment