Les Misérables

There seem to be two camps of opinion on modern history’s longest-running stage musical: those who love it and those who hate it. Never having seen Les Miz myself, I can only say from my experience of the movie adaptation that I’m in neither camp. The music, to me, seems unremarkable but the narrative--at least on film--is pretty shallow. Film is much less forgiving of the kind of gaps in logic and structure that theater easily allows for, and director Tom Hooper (The King's Speech) and screenwriter William Nicholson (Gladiator) have failed to satisfactorily bridge these storytelling holes in their adaptation.

The casting of this movie is even more problematic, with the major exception of Hugh Jackman as the lead, Jean Valjean. Jackman is that rare modern star who is a wonderful actor, a terrific song and dance man, a gorgeous looking movie star, and a compelling screen presence. The rest of the celebrities cast in lead roles are “off” in one or more significant ways. Either they over-act or they are distractingly self-conscious. Many don’t look right for the period, and many have unremarkable singing voices. That last weakness being most important here, since all the songs were performed live rather than lip-synched to playback--the standard way of shooting a movie musical.  This bold and potentially exciting choice of Tom Hooper’s is torpedoed by his cast's insufficient chops.

But Hooper’s worst sin is his style of shooting the picture. He seems to want the movie to feel as rough and gritty as the French Revolution itself, so he shoots everything in wobbly Steadicam and handheld close-ups with shallow focus, intentionally awkward compositions, and relentlessly abrasive jump-cutting. This is a stupid way to shoot a lavish and lengthy period musical, but it is made worse by the overlit, fake-looking sets and subpar CGI. The cumulative effect is to make this supposedly grand piece of cinema look more like a mediocre cable movie. There is a choreographer credited on this film, but the style of the production is so overwhelming that I honestly can't remember a single moment of movement by an actor--only the constant rushing around of the camera and the abrasive editorial flow.

The show’s best song, “Master of the House,” is the kind of big fun production number that any chump with a camera should be able to make work on screen.  Sadly, it’s shot and cut in the same maniacally frenzied style, and Sacha Baron-Cohen, Helena Bonham Carter and the other tavern patrons play everything far too broadly.  The result is an tiresome number that is neither fun nor funny.

I hope Hugh Jackman has the opportunity to do more and better musicals in the future.  His performance is the only thing that got me through this film--it even made me curious to see the stage show. If other movie stars with his array of skills can’t be found, I’d advise future producers and directors to find talented theater actors and make them into movies stars. (One can always hope.)