The Greatest Showman Reviews- Page 5

[dramamama611]

Posted: 12/31/17 at 10:25pm

No, the character's name is Philip Carlyle.  As far as I can tell, not a real person.

 

Bailey owned his own circus and the two merged.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 12/31/17 at 10:25pm

No, the character's name is Philip Carlyle.  As far as I can tell, not a real person.

 

Bailey owned his own circus and the two merged.

[Alexander Lamar]

Posted: 12/31/17 at 11:01pm

Ah, thanks Dramamama. Couldn’t remember what they were calling him.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 1/1/18 at 8:29am

Looks like I am in the minority here. I absolutely LOVEDLOVEDLOVED this. The music, the cinematography, the acting, and everything was just truly stunning. There was not one song I did not love. "Never Enough" was the highlight of the film. Such a beautiful song.

Updated On: 1/2/18 at 08:29 AM

[broadwaybabywannabe2]

Posted: 1/1/18 at 11:33am

i too absolutely loved the music in this film...the musical numbers were filmed and staged perfectly and the music got me moving in my theatre seat...now this is not to say this movie is good...but the musical numbers are worth going to see it...

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 1/1/18 at 12:13pm

At the end of the day, money speaks. Not critics. This is an encouraging sign. 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2017/12/31/hugh-jackmans-the-greatest-showman-just-set-a-new-box-office-record/

 

But it's been building since Christmas (as if folks were again waiting for after the holidays to check it out) and has earned a whopping $15.2m over its second Fri-Sun frame. That may not seem like much, but it's a 73% jump over its $8.8m opening Fri-Sun frame.

And that, ladies and gents, is a record "hold" for a movie playing in over 3,000 theaters. Heck, it's the best weekend hold ever for a movie on more than 2,000 screens where the opening weekend wasn't one or two days (IE - when Christmas fell on a Saturday or Sunday). Actually, among all films that opened over 600 theaters or screens, The Greatest Showman has the sixth-biggest second-weekend jump for a film that actually had a full Fri-Sun weekend, and two of the other five are reissues of Walt Disney animated features. The family-friendly, but adult-centric razzle-dazzle entertainment is clearly clicking with families, women and folks who just like a good musical.

[Babe_Williams]

Posted: 1/1/18 at 2:01pm

I am not surprised st all. It’s definitely going to gain a bigger audience by word of mouth. Nearly everyone I know who saw it posted how much they enjoyed it in social media.

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 1/1/18 at 2:59pm

Interesting what a dramatic divide there is on the board for this film-- the love camp and hate camp are both equally vociferous. I truly wonder if there is a generational split at work here? Could it be that older folks (I know dramamama is in the over 40 ranks, as am I) don't buy the autotuned music-video aspect to the show that younger folks believe is how all movie musicals should behave. Discuss.

[Sally Durant Plummer]

Posted: 1/1/18 at 4:36pm

Pretty bad, but I am puzzled that so many are listing this as the worst of the year when “mother!” is one of the worst movies of all time.

 

To even mention the brillant mother! in the same breath as this dreck is beyond ridiculous. I just don't understand why we need a big budget Hollywood musical about a racist and abusive man - who ripped all of a woman's teeth out of her mouth in an attempt to make people beleive she was over 150 years old - and paint him as a hero who is briefly seduced by high society. And the lasting joke was making the critic the villain - someone at the studio must have known the reviews would not be kind. At least the (autotuned) singing was decent, although I wish I culd say the same about the repetitive and colorless score. My top "WTF" moment was the fact that they gave famous *opera* soprano Jenny Lind a belted pop number. Beyond atrocious. mother! may have been a difficult film to sit through (the last half hour was probably the most horrifying thing I've ever seen on film) but the level of unparalleled craft - and the fact that he packed the entire bible, from Genesis to Revelation, into one house in two hours - was a masterstroke. It was a rape, an assault - I still can't stop thinking about it.

Updated On: 1/1/18 at 04:36 PM

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 1/1/18 at 5:06pm

Excuse me while I retrieve my eyeballs, which rolled out of my head when reading the above. 

 

http://observer.com/2017/09/darren-aronofsky-mother-worst-movie-of-the-year/

This delusional freak show is two hours of pretentious twaddle that tackles religion, paranoia, lust, rebellion, and a thirst for blood in a circus of grotesque debauchery to prove that being a woman requires emotional sacrifice and physical agony at the cost of everything else in life, including life itself. That may or may not be what Aronofsky had in mind, but it comes as close to a logical interpretation as any of the other lunk-headed ideas I’ve read or heard. The reviews, in which a group of equally pretentious critics frustratingly search for a deeper meaning, are even nuttier than the film itself. Using descriptions like “hermeneutic structure,” “phantasmagoric fantasia,” “cinematic Rorsach test” and “extended scream of existential rage,” they sure know how to leave you laughing

[leighmiserables]

Posted: 1/1/18 at 5:41pm

Someone in a Tree2 said: "Interesting what a dramatic divide there is on the board for this film-- the love camp and hate camp are both equally vociferous. I truly wonder if there is a generational split at work here? Could it be that older folks (I know dramamama is in the over 40 ranks, as am I) don't buy the autotuned music-video aspect to the show that younger folks believe is how all moviemusicals should behave. Discuss."

Can't speak for the "older" camp, but from the younger camp: I saw it with around six of my friends on Saturday (all 16-19 and most of us big drama geeks) and, actually, we all agreed our least favorite parts were the auto-tuned music-video-esque bits. (Contrary to popular belief, we all still think autotune sounds horrible.)

Another interesting point that was raised was that all of us were lukewarm on to hated the music itself—particularly the bland, unmemorable sounds and the pretty generic lyrics. The reason I found it so interesting was because three of my friends are die-hard Dear Evan Hansen and La La Land fans, and they were shocked when they found out P&P wrote the music. Personally, I can't stand most of DEH and LLL's music, but I'd listen to either soundtrack on repeat for a month before listening to TGS again (with the exception of "This is Me," if only for Keala's vocals). 

Other things that were brought up: 

We all thought it was way too short and would've benefitted from being a normal full musical length (~120 minutes). 

Most of us agreed they needed to decide if the main character was Barnum or Carlyle/Wheeler, because it jumped between them far too much for such a short film. 

In its current state, most of us would've preferred Carlyle/Wheeler to be the film's main focus. Maybe that's our age showing, considering we all grew up on High School Musical and Shake It Up, but we generally agreed their storyline was more interesting than Barnum's. 

It would have been nice if they put more focus on some of the circus members other than the Bearded Lady and Wheeler. 

Also, we were all confused as to why the producers felt the need to cast Rebecca Ferguson when she couldn't sing the part. Only one of us knew who she was (by face, not by name), and we all found ourselves incredibly annoyed when we realized she was lip syncing. 

That's about all I can think of. 

 

Updated On: 1/1/18 at 05:41 PM

[dramamama611]

Posted: 1/1/18 at 6:37pm

They all lip synched, although most to their own recorded voices.

[HenryTDobson]

Posted: 1/1/18 at 6:47pm

This is one of the worst films I've ever seen. Save for Keala Settle's shining moment, this film should be avoided at all costs. 

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 1/1/18 at 6:51pm

HenryTDobson said: "This is one of the worst films I've ever seen. Save for Keala Settle's shining moment, this film should be avoided at all costs."

 

And yet, box office numbers keep going up and the soundtrack holds steady as the #1 album in over 15 countries. I'm not sure too many are listening to your warning... 

Updated On: 1/1/18 at 06:51 PM

[smallvillefan16]

Posted: 1/1/18 at 8:02pm

Remind me to never listen to your judgement. It's a very entertaining movie!

Updated On: 1/1/18 at 08:02 PM

[jo]

Posted: 1/1/18 at 8:10pm

Signs are very healthy --

*EW.com (Entertainment Weekly) has just reported the holiday grosses :

http://ew.com/movies/2018/01/01/new-years-day-box-office-jumanji/

"The award for biggest gainer of the holiday period, however, belongs to Hugh Jackman’s grand scale musical The Greatest Showman, which climbed 136 percent from its minuscule $8.8 million opening weekend to a healthier $20.8 million four-day total ($54.3 million overall). Strong word of mouth (the film boasts an A grade on CinemaScore), 310 extra theaters added to its location count, and a consistent marketing push throughout the holidays are likely responsible for the film’s robust expansion."

*Billboard has reported that the soundtrack album is now # 5 on the Billboard200 chart.

https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/8085631/taylor-swift-reputation-returns-to-no-1-on-billboard-200-album-chart-huncho-jack

*Social media tracking from Box Office Pro is  very strong.

http://pro.boxoffice.com/movie/28772/the-greatest-showman
 

Updated On: 1/1/18 at 08:10 PM

[jo]

Posted: 1/1/18 at 8:22pm

Have you read this piece by Variety's top film critic, Owen Gleiberman ?

http://variety.com/2017/film/columns/the-greatest-showman-critical-sin-its-defiantly-uncool-1202650344/

He explores the reasons for the disconnect between critics and audiences over this movie musical.  Current RTomatoes critic rating is now 55% versus an Audience Score of 90%

[jo]

Posted: 1/1/18 at 8:34pm

Liza's Headband said: "At the end of the day, money speaks. Not critics. This is an encouraging sign.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2017/12/31/hugh-jackmans-the-greatest-showman-just-set-a-new-box-office-record/

But it's been building since Christmas (as if folks were again waiting for after the holidays to check it out) and has earned a whopping $15.2m over its second Fri-Sun frame. That may not seem like much, but it's a 73% jump over its $8.8m opening Fri-Sun frame.

And that, ladies and gents, is arecord "hold" for a movie playing in over 3,000 theaters. Heck, it's the best weekend hold ever for a movie on more than 2,000 screens where the opening weekend wasn't one or two days (IE - when Christmas fell on a Saturday or Sunday). Actually, among all films that opened over 600 theaters or screens,The Greatest Showmanhas the sixth-biggest second-weekend jump for a film that actually had a full Fri-Sun weekend, and two of the other five are reissues of Walt Disney animated features.The family-friendly, but adult-centric razzle-dazzle entertainment is clearly clicking with families, women and folks who just like a good musical."

If Scott Mendelson also checked social media messages since Christmas, it is quite apparent that it is not just "families, women and folks who just like a good musical" who are rating the movie very well -- it is the young people ( probably from the desired demos of 18-44 age range), based on their social media profiles,  who are chiming in.

https://twitter.com/hashtag/thegreatestshowman?f=tweets&vertical=default&src=hash

 

Also, if the IMDB user rating demos profile ( now close to 19,000 raters for Greatest Showman) is a microcosm of the audience for this movie, it is apparent that the favorable appreciation of the movie ( now at an average of 8.0 of 10.0) is spread out across demos (age/gender/USA&Foreign).

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1485796/ratings?ref_=tt_ov_rt
 

Updated On: 1/2/18 at 08:34 PM

[leighmiserables]

Posted: 1/1/18 at 9:34pm

dramamama611 said: "They all lip synched, although most to their own recorded voices."

That's what I meant—we were annoyed that she wasn't singing herself. Sorry if that was unclear. 

[BwayLB]

Posted: 1/1/18 at 10:56pm

Just saw the movie today. Greatest Showman is amazing. The music was energetic and the cast is spectacular. 5/5 stars

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 1/2/18 at 1:45am

The Jenny Lind sequence is one of the more laughable and ludicrous sections of ''The Greatest Showman.'' Rebecca Ferguson plays the renowned ''Swedish Nightingale'' with a British accent. (Strange, since she's actually Swedish in real life.) Lind was an opera singer, but here Pasek and Paul have given her a Celine Dion-like pop power ballad. And could the lyrics be more insipidly repetitious? ''These hands could hold the world, but it'll never be enough. Never be enough. For me. Never, never, never, never, never, for me. For me. Never enough. Never enough. Never enough. For me. For me. For me.'' This song ends with a slightly varied reprise: ''These hands could hold the world, but it'll never be enough. Never be enough. For me. Never, never, never, never, never, for me. For me. Never enough. Never, never, never enough, never, never, never enough, for me, for me, for me, for me.''

Shortly thereafter, Barnum is at a party to celebrate Lind's success, and literally slams the door to Lettie Lutz, the bearded lady, and the rest of his human ''oddity'' attractions. He's ashamed to have them mingle with high society. That triggers an angry and defiant Lettie to belt ''This Is Me,'' a pop anthem about self-empowerment and pride. And yet, there is never any followup or dramatic ramification to this scene. Surprisingly, Barnum never tries to explain his actions or betrayal to Lettie (let alone apologize), and the matter is never brought up again. Most movies run about 2 hours. At an hour and 45 minutes, ''The Greatest Showman'' feels too short, as if it's dropped vital book scenes, just so they could hurry along to the next pop-video number, afraid it'll lose the short attention span of an audience weaned on MTV and  commercials.. 

Updated On: 1/2/18 at 01:45 AM

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 1/2/18 at 8:59am

And yet, in spite of this, the album and movie keeps selling. Amazing how that happens! 

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 1/2/18 at 10:19am

Yes, it's not perfect (plot is flimsy and they could have focused on one thing and built on it instead of going all over the place) but I still loved it.  Like others said, I didn't go in expecting a documentary or a Steven Spielberg type movie.  I went it to just be entertained and watch fun performances......and that is what I got.  It's no in my top 5 favorite movies or anything but I hope it continues to do well which causes studios to invest more in movie musicals after "La La Land" and now this.   

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 1/2/18 at 11:58am

The soundtrack is tracking to hit the top 5 of the Billboard 200!

[DigificWriter]

Posted: 1/2/18 at 3:57pm

The Grearest Showman easily has a shot at being the best movie I see for the entirety of 2018, depending on what happens with Solo: A Star Wars Story and Aquaman, and is one that I will be heavily recommending to my family and friends.

I am not personally a fan of critic reviews of any sort and prefer to let a film, television series, novel, or musical demonstrate its worth or lack thereof on its own merits, and there is very little about TGS that I didn't enjoy immensely. It doesn't matter to me if the film isn't in any way historically accurate - except as a point of curiosity - or if the plot doesn't spend more time going in-depth on certain things; the casting, songs, and set-pieces grabbed my attention and didn't let go.


Speaking of the songs, This is Me might be the one currently stuck in my head, but I already know that the ones I'll be listening to again and again once I get the soundtrack are A Million Dreams, Come Alive, Never Enough, and Rewrite the Stars.

I'm not sure what baggage critics took with them into this film, but it makes me happy that, by and large, audiences are embracing the film (the showing I went to was almost completely full at 10 on a Tuesday morning where the holiday break was over for a lot of people).