Les Misérables: So, what did you think? — Page 4

^ That's awesome and funny at the same time. XD

It's wonderful that people could lose themselves in the film like that. It's funny that they're clapping for actors that can't hear them, hehe!

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^^ that moment was one of my favorite moments of the entire film.

Here's some (admittedly long-winded) observations I made on my facebook page earlier today.

Anne Hathaway invests herself fully and shines for her third of the film. Her big song will no doubt snag her an Oscar nod. Her scenes are almost uniformly affecting.

Eddie Redmayne is a dashing Marius and while he occasionally sings with a raised larynx (a "Knödel" to us classical singers), his tenor is a pleasing one. Very strong film presence.

Samantha Barks ought to win the award for making the most of a small part. Her "On My Own" is heartbreaking...anyone who has ever experienced unrequited love will weep!

Isabelle Allen was a charming Little Cosette, with a beautiful young voice. Daniel Huttlestone's Gavroche was an utter delight!

Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter squeeze every bit of comedy and snarl possible from Msr. & Mme Thénardier...and never do their antics seem overwrought. The costume/hair/makeup team really made them look as nasty on the exterior as they are on the inside. "Master of the House" is a highlight!

Hugh Jackman gave a mostly solid performance. I've been on the record saying that his vocal technique suffers from a nasality on certain vowels, but luckily this problem wasn't prevalent. I wish though, that they'd lowered the key a step for "Bring Him Home"...I usually don't like toying with original keys, but this was one case where I'd have accepted it. Hugh was deeply affecting during "What Have I Done?" as well as his final scenes. Tom Hooper couldn't have done much better than casting this Aussie!

Amanda Seyfried was a lovely, sympathetic Cosette. Her middle register is definitely stronger than at the very wispy upper register...a definite drawback.

Russell Crowe fell into the unfortunate trap of compensating for his lack of vocal finesse by over-singing (i.e. barking) through 90% of his lines. Where some actors in the piece needed to put more VOICE into the sung lines, Crowe should have acted/spoke more of his lines to tell the story more effectively. By the end of his story arc, one hopefully leaves the theater/cinema with some morsel of compassion for Javert...and sadly I didn't feel much for him. Very conflicted about his performance. Thumbs down...

Tom Hooper keeps the pacing moving along at a clip, which makes the nearly three-hour runtime seem less taxing. I wasn't too annoyed by his closeups for the most part. I will say that he should have allowed his actors to put more VOICE into more of the conversational recits. Also at times, some phrases might sound unintelligible to those who may not know the libretto inside and out. Nevertheless, Hooper has a great feel on what emotions make this musical "tick" and he more often than not taps into said emotions. (SEE the last ten minutes of the film!) Special thanks to Hooper for casting Colm Wilkinson (the original Jean Valjean) as the Bishop of Digne and Frances Ruffelle (the original Eponine) as a featured prostitute. Great way to pay homage and respect!

Finally...I will say that it wasn't going to be easy for Tom Hooper (or ANY director for that matter) to create a "perfect" film version of "Les Misérables" that would please every last fan of the musical or newcomer to the film. The source material is a big, lumbering, epic modern opera with a 25+ year following of fans--a group of which I proudly claim membership...and a decoder ring. He has created a film with some flaws, but also a great number of successes.

Someone posted somewhere that they thought that this was not as good as the Chicago Movie. Can someone explain that to me? Am I too much in love with the stage version that I can't see the movie as others? DO all movie reviews go in trying to forget what they have previously seen on stage, if they have scene the musical?

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Ugh, yes, the death of Gavroche was utterly disturbing.

There was also this shot of Enjolras I really liked during...I think it was "Do You Hear the People Sing?", when he's standing on General Lamarque's funeral carriage. He's waving the flag around, and for a moment he just looks like he's having a hard time with it because it's heavy and unwieldy, and he looks like the physically vulnerable idiot that, on one level, he is, and it hurts to know he'll be dying later. I wish we'd gotten more of that.

double post due to an error message. sorry.

Updated On: 12/26/12 at 01:44 AM

I posted this on Saturday in the other thread...

Just got home from a packed screening in Brisbane Australia, loved some things, hated others. Crowe was a major surprise, On My Own was stunning, Empty Chairs at Empty Tables was heartbreaking. The last forty or so minutes was very emotion.

It's a pity someone like David Lean was not around to direct this, it should have been a grand sweeping 70mm movie or at least widescreen, at times it felt like a chamber piece.

Liked it a lot , just wanted more epic story telling.

Should also add that the Continuity in this movie was awful and beyond sloppy

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@best12bars -- Interesting that you noticed those things about the sound mixing! I thought it was just the speakers in my movie theatre broken since all the sound from the singing only came from the front two speakers so it came a bit soft.


Other than that, I LOVED the movie. Definitely going to go see it again. Amanda Seyfried thoroughly surprised me, and I thought that her vocals worked in the context of the film and was actually very sweet.

Aaron Tveit, Hugh Jackman, Eddie Redmayne and Anne Hathaway were all phenomenal. And the close-ups didn't bother me as much as everyone has been saying they would.

It's funny you thought it felt rushed, and after Cosette grows up, I couldn't wait for them to pick up the pace with the plot. I thought the rest of the story right to the end dragged horribly. (A fault of the original stage show.)

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I loved that the movie became something other than being about "singing". I loved that the actors put emotions (or ACTING) above vocal training (whether it was because they lacked the training, or were simply doing it to be more effective). The only one who didn't get that memo was Crowe who tried so hard to SING rather than ACT songs that were way beyond his vocal ability. His struggle to sing really hurt his performance, in my opinion.

Incidentally, having seen the stage version maybe four times, I will say that the film did a great job of "explaining" the time jumps, character relations, etc, which always seem a little confusing to those seeing the musical for the first time. The overall editing was excellent in my book.

eatlasagna- That's not a doctor, that's Marius' grandfather. In the book they have a very troubled relationship, with Marius' grandfather lying to Marius about his father so that he never meets him. Long story short, Marius finds out the truth, becomes obsessed with his father, and basically disowns his grandfather. That's why he, a rich boy, is living in the same squalor that the Thenardiers do, and it's how he meets Eponine and her parents. He also goes to ask his grandfather for permission to marry Cosette, which the grandfather denies. Then at the end Valjean carries Marius back to the grandfather's house and they reconcile.

I saw it Monday night - I did not love it as much as some of you. I found the closeups distracting, and Crowe's singing very disappointing. I guess I am too familiar with the cast recordings, and used to a much stronger, more robust Javert. I thought singing wise he was the weakest link by far. I also thought that those not familiar with the story would be lost.

I was bored in parts.

Hathaway was the best thing in the film, and deserves the accolades she is getting. Jackman was fine, though sometime his voice was better than others. The younger cast was strong, though the story does plod along.

But, I found the focus on closeups, and some of the shaky camera work distracting, and at times I was looking at my watch.

Maybe I was expecting too much, and I know that some folks loved it. I loved parts of it, but the sum of the entire movie was not as great for me as its parts.

"I can't believe he's not getting award recognition (Alan Arkin, really?)."

It wouldn't be the first time Alan Arkin stole an Oscar from someone... (/Still Bitter about Blood Diamond)

So "Everyday" is in the movie? So we have to hear Seyfried sing a C6? Oy.

I've seen a few people talk about the movie's storyline having poor continuity. I'll have to see if I agree, as I am a stickler about continuity.

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Updated On: 12/26/12 at 10:51 AM