Though there were a number of high
profile releases this past Christmas Season, few contained the inherent
momentum and potential of Les Misérables,
an adaptation of one of the most revered musicals and novels of all time that
would be brought to life by Hollywood’s A-list.
Granted, musical films have been largely hit-or-miss in recent years,
the most recent example being this past summer’s god-awful Rock of Ages, but an ensemble cast led by Hugh Jackman and Anne
Hathaway (both of whom have proven proficiency in music) seemed to allay all
fears. Having never seen the musical
before, I was nevertheless familiar with the story of Les Misérables thanks to Liam Neeson’s portrayal of Jean Valjean in
the 1998 non-musical adaptation, so my main interest actually lay in the
favoritism that the new release was already garnering for Awards Season. Anne Hathaway’s brief portrayal of the
tortured Fantine was being universally-praised and served as the main
selling-point of the trailer, and with The
King’s Speech director Tom Hooper behind the camera, audiences were
probably in for one hell of a treat. To
be fair, despite the pedigree of the film, Les
Misérables wasn’t on the top of my must-see list, but as the
highest-profile release of the stacked Holiday Season and a sure-fire Oscar
contender, there was no way I could miss this retelling of a familiar story.
I may still find myself humming a
few of the songs from the film, and I fully acknowledge that Hugh Jackman and
Anne Hathaway earned their Oscar nominations, but I still maintain that one has
to really enjoy musicals to fully appreciate Les Misérables. Make no
mistake, the production design and musical numbers are truly beautiful, but
with an over two-and-a-half hour running time, it feels a little hard for
anyone but the most die-hard fans of the popular subject material to eventually
lose interest. It almost seems that for
every positive in the film, there is a parallel negative that provides a glass
ceiling for overall quality…for instance, newcomer Samantha Barks delivered a
moving performance and powerful vocals, but Amanda Seyfried and Eddie Redmayne
clearly struggled a bit. Even director
Tom Hooper overplayed his hand, inexplicably choosing some truly uncomfortable close-up
camerawork and muddling the balance of comedy and drama that should have come
with the casting of Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen. In the end, Les Misérables is a far from perfect film, but as the most recent
adaptation of revered material, fans of the story and the music will still find
themselves satisfied.
Overall Recommendation: Medium
