LES MISERABLES Film Official Reviews — Page 6

I seriously hope the screenplay for Lincoln gets published, because I would love to just read it on the page.

I think Les Miz may get the Globe, because the Hollywood Foreign Press loves two things: stars and bigness.

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Hathaway is the surest award bet right now. Even the film's detractors and doubters are lavishing praise.

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I think Tommy Lee Jones is about as solid a lock as Hathaway.

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I think Leonardo DiCaprio could pose a major threat to Best Supporting Actor. He's only gaining traction at this point, plus he's been nominated a crapload of times before and generally well-liked in the film community.

I personally don't think so. I think it'll be a bit of a shocker if Waltz is even nominated, actually. With extremely strong competition from Jones, Hoffman, DeNiro, Arkin, Goodman (in both ARGO and FLIGHT), Bardem, and even Eddie Redmayne & Ezra Miller, I would imagine Waltz will be shut out as (based on what I've read and heard) DiCaprio has the flashiest, hammiest, and most entertaining role in DJANGO.

Updated On: 12/14/12 at 04:37 PM

Another scathing review, this one from The Wrap:

Jackman over-articulates, over-gesticulates and pretty much over-everythings. Worse still are those moments where, rather than singing all his dialogue, he has to transition from speech to song within the same line. (“We’re leaving now, PACK YOUR THIIIIIIINGS!”) Even his “Bring Him Home” paled next to the version performed by that actor who came to Dallas 20 years ago, raising nary a hair on the back of my neck.

Hathaway, meanwhile, takes every opportunity to suck all the oxygen out of “I Dreamed a Dream,” the number that is this show’s “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going.” Earlier in the film, Fantine sells some of her back teeth to a shady dentist who promises to leave her “enough to bite.” Clearly, he also left her enough to gnash. It’s a ghastly, eyelid-fluttering, self-serving, sympathy-begging performance; Oscar voters are guaranteed to eat it up.

And then there’s poor Russell Crowe, who’s had success as a vocalist with his bands 30 Odd Foot of Grunts and the Ordinary Fear of God, but singing in a bar band and belting quasi-operatic Broadway songs are two very different things. He’s giving it his all but falling short throughout; you can tell from the strain that he’s singing on his tippytoes.

The one performer who stands out is Sasha Baron Cohen, who cuts through the rest of the film’s noble masochism with the grungily cynical “Master of the House.” (Helena Bonham Carter is lazily cast as the innkeeper’s shrewish wife.) But even Baron Cohen wears a bit thin by the fourth reprise or so.
The Wrap

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I have 2 questions for the people who have seen the film;

Is the "lalalala" part, reprise "castle on a cloud" still there? Followed by the reprise of "I dreamed a dream" where Valjean sings "Now her mother is with god, Fantine's suffering is over"?

And does Amanda Seyfried sing the hight note in "A heart full of love"? And how does it sound?

Thanks

Here's the audio of Crowe's "Stars" if anyone wants to dare:

http://ianjonbourgandethanfreeman.tumblr.com/post/38351966936/stars-russell-crowe-no-tagging-reblogging

Frankly, he sounds like he's in a karaoke bar. haha

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http://www.richardroeper.com/reviews/lesmiserables.aspx

Richard Roeper, on the other hand, gives it an A. He calls it a "triumph" and the best movie musical of the decade.

And the NY Post is positive with three stars out of four; basically, he loves Hathaway, Jackman, Redmayne, Barks, etc, but thought the constant close-ups (which many critics seem to be taking issue with) and constantly larger-than-life direction are too overwhelming and hinder the film.

http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/movies/les_miserables_may_cause_weeping_Y3Ra6snZsgWBxC0SPhW5vJ?utm_medium=rss&utm_content=Movies

It should be noted that the other NY Post film critic, Kyle Smith, ranked LES MIZ as his #1 film of the year.

Updated On: 12/20/12 at 04:07 PM

Why do some people get sick about people disagreeing with them about movies or shows? It comes with the territory. People respond differently to different things and different ways of presenting those things. I'm curious why some can't simply accept this as part of the deal: people who care passionately about performance are going to disagree. There's no way around it and no reason to get sick about it.

If we didn't have different opinions, what would be the purpose of coming to places like bww to discuss our impressions? Or of reading professional critics, who are just as likely to disagree with each other as we are, in reviews?

I disagree with you about the movie of Evita (not that I would trash it, but I don't think it's very good) but it doesn't sicken me to read your rhapsodic review of it or the review of someone who likes it less or far less than I did. Similarly, there are things that I love that many people have trashed. Rather than being distressed by others not sharing my opinion, it's interesting to me to discuss why we came away with different impressions of what we had seen.

It's a movie. Sharing our views should be fun. It's not as if we are discussing going to war.

Updated On: 12/21/12 at 10:20 AM

Rolling Stone is a rave and gives it 3.5/4 stars.

"No one expects gutsy filmmaking in a musical. But that's just what King's Speech Oscar winner Tom Hooper delivers in Les Misérables. The massive 1980s stage smash is adapted from Victor Hugo's even more massive 1862 novel spun around the 1832 Paris student uprising. There's no spoken dialogue! Everyone sings! All the time! For nearly three hours! Think rock opera, like the Who's Tommy. If that drives you nuts, screw off and see the stupid Twilight finale again."

http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/les-miserables-20121221#ixzz2Fk7flIBR

No one expects gutsy filmmaking in a musical.

Love that Rolling Stones liked it, but this quote bothered me. Have they not seen a movie musical like ever? Off the top of my head WEST SIDE STORY, SINGIN' IN THE RAIN, CABARET, MOULIN ROUGE and CHICAGO all have moments of risky, complex and "gutsy" filmmaking, and that's just to name a few. I hate so much the way that people, particularly film critics who you think should know better, have this completely inaccurate idea of movie musicals as generic, conventional and safe.

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