Les Misérables
- (December 25, 2012): PG-13
Distributor: Universal
Pictures
Opening Weekend Box Office:
#3 with $27,281,735
Domestic Box Office
Gross to-date: $106,392,520
Gross Revenue: $187,371,472
Production Budget:
$61 million
Director: Tom Hooper
He may be best known to mass audiences
as Wolverine, but the truth is that Hugh Jackman is also a Broadway-seasoned,
Tony Award-winning stage actor, so as the headliner of an A-list ensemble cast
for a big-budget adaptation of a famous musical, there was no better choice. I even got a preview of Anne Hathaway’s vocal
talents during her voice work in 2011’s animated musical, Rio, so it was no surprise that her performance as the downtrodden
Fantine was emerging as the definitive focal point of Les Misérables. If anything
emerged as a potential question mark, it was the inclusion of Russell Crowe,
who has more than proven himself as an accomplished actor, and is indeed a
capable musician, but isn’t exactly someone that you would line up to see belt
out exposition set to classical music…still, with that much star power in one
film, no one expected anything but the best from this holiday release. With hype for Les Misérables building ever since the first teaser trailer debuted
in May, Universal Pictures definitely had a juggernaut on its hands, one that
would appeal to the female demographic and undeniably benefit from the buzz
concerning future Awards Season nominations.
To put it simply, despite strong competition in the form of new release Django Unchained and mammoth holdover The Hobbit, Les Misérables was still emerging as the clear favorite to charm
audiences over Christmas.
For those of you unfamiliar with
the classic story, Les Misérables is
set in 19th Century France and follows Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman),
a man unjustly imprisoned for stealing food and recently released from
captivity; to escape stigma, Valjean breaks parole to start an honest life in a
new environment, thereby drawing the ire of former prison guard and current
police inspector, Javert (Russell Crowe).
Fast forward a few years and Valjean is now a factory owner and mayor of
a small town, but he is soon forced to dismiss one of his workers, Fantine
(Anne Hathaway), for sending money to her illegitimate daughter, Cosette, who happens
to be living with thieving innkeepers known as the Thénardiers (Sacha Baron
Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter) and their young daughter, Éponine. Desperate for money, Fantine turns to
prostitution and falls gravely ill, only to once again cross paths with
Valjean; horrified by her predicament, Valjean swears an oath to collect
Cosette and raise her as his own daughter, just before Fantine passes away and
Valjean is forced to flee from a resurfaced Javert. Jump forward a few more years and Valjean and
Cosette (Amanda Seyfried) are now living peacefully, but Cosette has attracted
the attention of a young revolutionary, Marius Pontmercy (Eddie Redmayne), and
the two young adults fall instantly in love, despite Éponine (Samantha Barks)
also vying for Marius’ affections. On
the eve of a new French Revolution, Valjean finds that he is conflicted, as he
is forced to face the fact that Cosette is growing up, but he lives in constant
fear of being discovered by Javert, who just happens to be closing-in on
recapturing the prisoner he has dedicated his life to imprisoning.
Even if you are not a huge fan of
musicals, you have to appreciate the powerhouse performances that help bring Les Misérables to life, thereby
complementing the impressive production design to deliver a truly entertaining
adaptation of the beloved tale. Going
into the theater, my attention was focused on confirming the hype surrounding
Anne Hathaway’s performance, and though the talented actress made stunning use
of every second of her limited screen time, I was perhaps most impressed by
Hugh Jackman. Playing a hardened
prisoner certainly wasn’t an acting stretch, but as a tortured soul seeking
redemption, Jackman showcases a huge range of talent, and if his performance in
the closing scene doesn’t move you to tears, then I fear for your soul. Besides the A-listers though, the biggest
jaw-dropper of the cast was Samantha Barks as Éponine; with her beautiful
singing and moving performance as the tragic character, it is no wonder that
her other major career credit is playing Éponine in the stage production of Les Misérables…hopefully we see much
more from her in the future.
Unfortunately, beyond these strong performances, there is not much to Les Misérables that would charm
audiences comprised of those who would declare themselves, at best, casual fans
of musicals.
Don’t get me wrong, I did enjoy a
number of the musical performances within Les
Misérables, but with the overly-long running time, the uneven cast
performances, and the questionable directorial choices, I don’t know how highly
I would have regarded the film had I not already been so familiar with the core
material. For as much as I enjoy the
other work of Russell Crowe and Amanda Seyfried, it was fairly obvious that
singing is not their main talent; kudos to both for trying and working through
the struggle…and at least they weren’t as painful to watch as Eddie
Redmayne. And when it comes to close-up
camera angles, Tom Hooper may have used that technique to strong effect in The King’s Speech, but this time around,
having the cast single directly into the camera is just laughably awkward. In terms of the running time, with the story
so widely-known and not subject to much variation over the years, I have to
question the wisdom in not cutting a few of the more inane musical numbers in
favor of a shorter narrative; by the time the second hour kicks in, it is a
little infuriating when the characters start breaking into song for absolutely
everything…that’s why stage plays have intermissions. So, with just enough negatives to cancel-out
most of the positives, the overall quality of Les Misérables remains far below what many expected prior to
release.
Based on my previous analyses of The Hobbit and Django Unchained, it should come as no surprise to my regular
readers when I classify the Holiday box office as a ruthless battleground, so
even with an all-star cast and easy appeal to the female demographic, Les Misérables was still only able to
earn a third place opening. With
combined domestic and foreign receipts placing the musical drama safely in the
nine-figure range, no one at Universal has to worry about recovering the
surprisingly modes production budget. While
I certainly wouldn’t count this newest attempt at a Hollywood musical as an
unmitigated success, it is certainly one of the strongest attempts in years…now
I simply have to wait for an adaptation of Wicked. The true test of the success of Les Misérables will come in a few months
with Oscar Night, and while I certainly wouldn’t agree with the Best Picture
Accolade, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Hathaway or Jackman walk away with
gold. To put it simply, if you don’t
like the play or the book, you’re probably not going to like the movie, so in
the end, the choice is yours whether you want to give Les Misérables a chance.
Overall Recommendation: Medium
