The Greatest Showman Reviews — Page 4

I saw The Greatest Showman over the holidays and here are some quick thoughts

- Hugh Jackman is a star.

- Zac Efron is okay

- Zendaya and Keala Settle are both scene stealers

- Michelle Williams gives a good performance

- Rebecca Ferguson gives a master class on lip-synching.

- The plot isn't thick enough, everything happens too quickly and there's not enough plot development.

- I love the score. This is Me is a standout. I love the song Never Enough, but for an opera singer, I don't think it fits.

- The production design and Cinematography are outstanding.

- This belongs on Broadway instead of Film, with some plot added especially to the Zac & Zendaya relationship.

Talk about The Greatest Showman is dying down, but this comment appeared in the NY Post's list of the year's worst films this morning and it gave me a laugh:

3. “The Greatest Showman” P.T. Barnum as Father Teresa

Finally caught this last night. There isn't a grade low enough to lower my expectations to that would have made this show enjoyable for me. I think this is exactly the kind of movie that gives movie musicals a bad name with much of the public. Facile, weightless, fake sentiments from the first frame to the last, generic songs with generic lyrics that could be shifted at will between any scene or character here. Sets that offered the absolute minimum of imagination paired with costumes that were abominations no matter WHAT period you finally decide to assign them to. (Clearly the gowns for Jenny Lind were borrowed from the latest Project Runway episode without a second's glance.)

Why, why, why would they take the great starting point of PT Barnum's life and those fabulous evocative periods and dumb them down to this dreck? The Greatest Mistake of the year.

Updated On: 12/29/17 at 07:20 PM

Do any of you think this will appear on broadway eventually?

"I have a newsflash for you .... that attitude says more about YOU than it does about the movie. "

Every opinion I post, positive OR negative, always says a lot about me, just as every opinion YOU post says a lot about you. I'm not automatically wrong, and you're not automatically right, just because many people in this thread may concur with you. Folks who have agreed with my posts in the past may indeed think that my negative review says a great deal about the merits of THE GREATEST SHOWMAN itself, and may choose to see it or skip it accordingly. Similarly, your rave review for it will be super-helpful to ME when I consider going to another film you write a rave for down the road. We all win.

“Father Theresa”? Hardly. The Post’s critic is entitled to his opinion. But I’m guessing he didn’t hear the Barnum character tell Charles (Tom Thumb) Stratton, “They’re gonna laugh at you anyway, kid. Might as well get paid for it.” Very canonical pronouncement, isn’t it? Or maybe the critic closed his eyes when Barnum, ashamed of his band of “unique persons,” shuts the door on them so as not to be embarrassed in front of New York’s social register. Or when he abandons them and his own familiy to further personal ambitions. Self-effacing actions indeed.

In the film inspired by—and not strictly based on—the legendary showman, Barnum is often portrayed as an unfeeling jerk, even if his circus troupe ultimately forgive him. That major character flaw is made pretty obvious.

Updated On: 12/30/17 at 08:11 PM

Someone in a Tree2 said: "Similarly, your rave review for it will be super-helpful to ME when I consider going to another film you write arave for down the road. We all win."

Hmmm, I don't recall putting anything even remotely to be considered a "rave review" for it in my previous post. (though I did, personally, enjoy it) All I said was that a film that has members of the audience applauding after numbers and exiting the theatre smiling, can't be all bad. In the end, what difference does it really make? Those that enjoyed it had a good time ... and unfortunately, as with all films, there will always be those who don't ... but they may love the next film and we may not ... and this is the way it will always be. :)

Updated On: 12/30/17 at 09:30 PM

dramamama611 said: "Oh, no, it IS that bad.



I wanted to like it, was looking forward to it - even with the bad reviews and mixed word of mouth. The whole thing was worse than being BAD.....it was simply boring. The script, the music......zzzzzzz. The man next to my son fell asleep.

My show (Sat night, full house) had no mid-film applause....in fact, I kept wondering which song people had said it happened for, as nothing exhilarated me to even consider applause. There was a quiet smattering of applause at the end, but overall it was quiet exiting.

My daughter, and a friend of hers both enjoyed it, my son and I were simply bored.

And while I'm write, that doesn't imply that my opinion is absolute. You liked it? Good. I did not ...and that's ok, too."

Regarding all this hoohaw about mid-movie applause - once again, this happens with every movie musical no matter how terrible - it happened with Last Five Years, it happened with Lucky Stiff - musical theater cheerleaders do that - it's what they do. Every single time. It is meaningless.

I just wonder if it's a matter of perspective - if you walk into Spongebob Squarepants expecting a Pulitzer Prize winning show you're going to be disappointed. And I guess with this film I can see why you might have reasonable expectations given the cast, composers and subject matter opening at oscar bait time. But if you lower them to acknowledge this audience-flick has been carefully designed to appeal to the lowest common denominators of musical fans, you might have a good time. Yes, you're going to get a derivative story with cliche themes and a score that is incredibly brief with no attempt even made to suit the time period or characters at all. But on the other hand, you get a bunch of decent performances, catchy (and sometimes moving) tunes, some impressive choreography a feel-good journey to watch the rise, fall and rise of the lead character/family and misfits. I don't regret paying $10 for this.