Phantom movie

It's not too bad. I love Minnie Driver in it, but I'm not crazy about all of the Phantom's vocal and acting choices.

And his deformity's a little anticlimactic.

Which movie? There are about six of them.

The newest one? Ugh. Yuck. That Phantom was terrible. The males in general in the movie were pretty awful. Patrick Wilson was certainly the best, but even he wasn't very good.

I just don't understand because Andrew Lloyd Webber was a part of the audition process...he auditioned thousands of males for the Phantom...and he can up with that guy?

Also, if they could all decide if they collective were or were not going to do an accent would have been nice.

Here's my thoughts: They should either have done it very well, or not done it at all. So in other words--they shouldn't have done it at all!

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I was beyond dissapointed.

Emmy Rossum scoops way too many notes, and it is obvious she can't hit a lot of them. (She's an alto for one thing!) Notes had to be lowered or digitally enhanced, and those notes that weren't lowered were tight and breathy. I didn't care for her acting either. She just stands there agape for most of it.

Gerard Butler growls more than sings. They needed a professional vocalist for this role, not a standard actor.

I enjoyed Patrick Wilson's vocals, but his acting was lacking a bit. Out of the three leads, he was the most qualified though.

I did love the orchestrations though, and I thought Miranda Richardson was great as Madame Giry. Very mysterious.

And as an avid Phantom fan, I didn't care for the cutting and rearranging they did. But as you know, altering a piece of work is blasphemy to any die-hard fan. :)

personally, i love it, but i heard the actress playing christine, wasnt really singing...i heard they tracked someone else's voice. is this true?

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It's flawed, but I adore it. Big shocker I'm sure.

I think Mr. Butler was fantastic as far as acting is concerned.

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"None of the music was digitally enhanced. None. Only one note was lowered, and most of the actresses who play the part on stage have had it lowered as well, so I don't see the point of contention here. The lowered notes in Think of Me was to change it up a bit...I don't think I've ever heard any of the actresses sing it the same way. Roles on Broadway are ALWAYS taylored to fit the actor, so it isn't unreasonable for it to change slightly for the replacements."

If you're talking about the cadenza in THINK OF ME, then, yes, there are "lowered" notes there. But the very definition of "cadenza" means the musical passage is tailored for or improvised by the individual singer. In terms of range, however, THINK OF ME is still in the same key as the stage version so Rossum still ascends up to a B-flat. The only song Rossum sings one half step lower is the title song because the final verse was eliminated for some reason in the film. So instead of hitting a high E at the end of the vocalise, Rossum recorded an E-flat, which is still very high.

Having said that, I loved the film. Butler is not the best singer, but his acting was quite moving. Rossum was believable as a young developing soprano. Wilson was... bland. And for some reason, even after "studio magic," Wilson still somehow couldn't maintain pitch. He sang a lot of flat notes in the soundtrack and I don't quite know why that's the case, especially since Wilson is a Broadway singer. Go figure.

Updated On: 5/11/06 at 12:30 AM

"The E-flat at the end of the title track was digitally enhanced, or so I have heard."

You heard wrong. And many actresses on stage not only have that final note lowered as well, it is pre-recorded, so who's to say it isn't altered either in the stage show? The criticism toward Rossum regarding this note has been most absurd, because the same accusations can be thrown at ALL the Christines from the show, yet aren't.

I actually really liked the movie, even though they could have done better on the casting of Christine. I really loved Garald Butler, but I think I'm in the minority with that one!

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I liked it.

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