Everyone, today, we review a musical that was based off of a certain novel by Victor Hugo. Not only that, but there was apparently a Broadway version that today’s film was adapted from, along with the original novel. Oh, and did I forget to mention that this film just got re-released in theaters this past week? Apparently, that was in honor of the 40th anniversary of the Broadway version, come next year. Why this film got re-released in theaters this year, and not next year, because of that, you got me! Either way, without further ado, let’s talk about the one, and only musical film that stars Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, and other people, Les Miserables.
Plot: After nineteen years of being a slave, Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) is taken out of slave work by Inspector Javert (Russell Crowe), and asked to go on parole. However, after Valjean comes across the Bishop of Digne (Colm Wilkinson), and is shown kindness by him, and the people of his church, Valjean decides to become a new man, including being the mayor of Montreuil, France. However, things get heated up, and circumstances occur that cause Javert to recognize Valjean, forcing Valjean to be on the run once again, while caring for Colette (Isabelle Allen when she’s a kid, and Amanda Seyfried when she’s an adult), the daughter of a woman named Fantine (Anne Hathaway). Now, the question remains, after seeking shelter in another church territory, will Valjean remain at peace, and safe from Javert for good?
Now, I remember seeing this film at least a few times back when it first came out in late 2012, and enjoying it a lot. So now that it’s been over a decade since this film came out, and I’m seeing films from a more analytical perspective, does this 2012 hold up? Well, in more ways, yes. Still, as far as negative aspects go, I’ve heard a lot of complaints about there being constant singing, and hardly any dialogue. After seeing this film again recently, yeah, I kind of see that point. No, not because I’m against musicals. Again, I love musicals. However, for this film, it did kind of feel like some mini numbers felt forced in, rather than letting dialogue come in where talking might have worked better for some scenes. Then, there’s the elephant in the room, Russell Crowe’s singing. Okay, his acting was great as usual. Heck, I believe I sort of rambled about his acting was for characters like Maximus when I reviewed Gladiator recently. But his singing, you can likely tell his singing seemed to be auto-tuned, or something like that. The reason being is that anytime he sang, his voice sounded kind of like a car horn blaring at points. Not to mention that his eyes would get wide-eyed nearly every time that he tried to sing. Because of this, the filmmakers probably should have maybe had someone sing who sung better, and maybe lip sync for Crowe’s mouth moving like how the filmmakers for My Fair Lady had Marni Nixon do that for Audrey Hepburn for some of her numbers in that film. Well, all to say, hopefully this was a learning curve for the filmmakers when it came to these aspects of this film.
Other than those, this film is definitely an enjoyable experience overall. First of all, this film did an excellent job of portraying life in France, following the years of the French Revolution. I mean you have the wealthy, who hardly have any troubles at all, and poorer people like Valjean, and Fantine, who seem to have it pretty bad, big time, especially the latter character. Yeah, seeing as Les Miserables is French for “the miserable”, it only makes sense that the characters that have a lower status don’t have the best lives. However, even if that is the case, at least you have characters like Valjean, who are shown grace, mercy, and love, even by certain characters in the church (which is what God calls us Christians to do anyway), followed by Valjean doing that very thing either to characters like Fantine, Cosette, or anyone else that he can do that to the best of his ability. What’s even more interesting is the fact that both the Les Miserables novel, and Notre Dame De Paris (aka The Hunchback Of Notre Dame) were written by Victor Hugo). Now, why do I bring up both stories, you may be wondering. I do so because of the fact that either Victor Hugo, or writers that adapted film versions of both of his works, seemed to write the heroes, and villains in one of the most brilliant ways in terms of having both the hero, and villain going through similar situations to each other, but the difference being how they each handled it. Yeah, watch both Les Miserables, and certain version of The Hunchback Of Notre Dame, and I’m sure you’ll know what I mean. I wouldn’t be surprised if some people were to argue that both Quasimodo, and Jean Valjean could make a good friend duo, and Javert, and Judge Claude Frollo a good main villain duo. Why? Well, mainly because of the fact that both heroes show grace, love, compassion, and mercy to others around them, while the villain in both stories, or at least in certain versions of each story, act like goody good Christians, but do so in the wrong way, in a legalistic, and a Pharisee type of way, believe themselves each to be high, and mighty, and consider themselves more righteous than everyone else around them. Not to mention both villains having a great villain song in certain versions, especially Frollo from Disney’s Hunchback, with his “Hellfire” number. Then, there are the characters. Wow, are they great, whether they are heroes, or villains. Not only are they each likable, or in the case of the villains, despicable, but they are each genuine in what they say, what they do, you name it. Even the characters that don’t have as much screen time are fleshed out incredibly well. Because of this, pretty much every character, whether they are the main heroes, the villains, and even supporting characters, are going to be memorable in one capacity, or another. Oh, and how could I not mention the how much life each, and every actor, and actress brings into each, and every single character? Be it Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, you name it, they are all really great. Plus, the fact that Anne Hathaway at least won an Oscar, a Golden Globe, and other awards either for Best Actress, or Supporting Actress, something line that, she most definitely deserved those awards, because of how well she especially did in her role as Fantine. Though Crowe’s singing at least felt very auto-tuned, even in the songs, each cast member expressed either joy, or all sorts of every other raw emotion into each, and every single character. It is so outstanding how well that aspect of this movie is handled. Well done, filmmakers! Then, additionally, there are the songs. I did mention that at a few points, particularly when the songs are short miniature numbers, those numbers seem to feel crammed in, did I not? That being said, there are many times, especially with the more lengthy numbers, where those numbers work extremely well. Heck, with the beginning number, “Look Down”, I remember both this past time around, and even when I saw this film for the very first time back in 2012, where I found myself thinking that it reminded me very much of “Deliver Us” from The Prince Of Egypt, likely mainly due to both numbers involve scenes with slaves, singing about life in slavery, and more. Granted, one of the main differences was that, in “Deliver Us”, the Israelites did sing about wanting God to deliver them from their bondage, while you don’t hear of anything like that in “Look Down”. Still, both songs can have a very similar feel to each other. In addition to “Look Down,” there are many additional memorable tunes like “Valjean’s Soliloquy”, “At The End Of The Day”, “I Dreamed A Dream”, “Stars”, “A Heart Full Of Love”, “On My Own”, “One Day More”, and quite a few of the many other songs as well that didn’t feel forced in. Yeah, this is one of quite a few times when the numbers help flesh out the characters, and the story overall. Truthfully, reasons such as this, it’s understandable why Tom Hooper, and the team decided to adapt this story from Broadway into film. Oh, and the score by Claude-Michel Schonberg, also so amazing, and does an excellent job of drawing one into the movie. In addition to these elements, how could you not come to appreciate a character like Jean Valjean, especially due to him being willing to show kindness even to others that didn’t deserve it, specifically when it came to characters like Javert? Hopefully, for those of us who do see a version like those one of Les Miserables, people will take away some valuable lessons from characters like the Bishop of Digne, and Jean Valjean in particular. Finally, definitely be prepared to have a box, or two, of tissues before you either see this film hopefully back in theaters, or even on video. The reason being is because, well, especially for those of us who never read the novel of this story, or are unfamiliar with the story of Les Miserables, period, with the way things turn out by the end, it ends up being very unexpected, and rather bittersweet. Again, I won’t give away why that is, but definitely have a box of tissues with you for that very reason.
And that’s my review for the 2012 version of Les Miserables. Although there were a couple things about this film that could have made it better, the 2012 version of Les Miserables is a film that will mess with you emotions in every way, keep you engaged, make you invested in the movie’s characters, and, overall, due mostly to it’s music, and story, will capture your heart, and attention in any, and every way that you can think of. I would say that if you haven’t seen what may yet be a potential classic films that’s been released in more recent years, then I would highly recommend it. Not only will you be glad that you did see it in the end, but it will likely help you see, and understand the world differently, possibly help one be interested in God more, and likely even learn some other valuable lessons along the way. If nothing else, definitely see this film for its songs, especially the more memorable ones. You may want to see it multiple times after seeing it once. Who knows? Well, go see it, hopefully in theaters, due to its re-release in theaters, and see what you think! That is especially if you want to see a musical that is based not only on a Broadway show, but also a classic piece of literature, and is a musical with a great plenty of action in it.
Final Grade: A-
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