Les Miserables

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Eddie Redmayne, and Amanda Seyfried

Directed by: Tom Hooper

Screenplay by: William Nicholson and Alain Boublil

Based on the Broadway musical and on the novel by Victor Hugo

It’s post-revolutionary France, and our story follows the life of Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman).  He has been released from prison and breaks his parole, which would send him back.  He instead flees and is hunted by Inspector Javert (Russell Crowe).  While a fugitive, Valjean must create a new life for himself wherever he goes. 

A few years have passed, and we meet Jean Valjean again.  He has become the mayor of a town called Montreuil.  There is an incident at a factory, where one of the workers, Fantine (Anne Hathaway), has been arrested by Javert.  Because Javert does not recognize Valjean at first, he convinces Javert to release her, and Valjean takes care of Fantine after that.  He finds her in poor health and that she has a small child named Cosette.  Fantine dies and Cosette goes to live with the Thenardiers (Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter).  They don’t take very good care of Cosette and Valjean eventually takes her away from their care and raises Cosette himself. 

Fast-forward more years, and our story takes us to Paris.  Cosette (Amanda Seyfried) is older and still raised by Valjean.  They are still on the run from Javert.  But conditions in Paris are bad, bad to the point where a revolution becomes imminent.  Marius (Eddie Redmayne) is a student who joins a group of youth who plan to revolt.  Cosette meets Marius, and they fall in love.  Valjean doesn’t like Marius and tries to keep him away from Cosette, but will it work?  Or will love triumph?

The film’s story is quite lengthy, and with a run time of 158 minutes, it feels like you’re sitting in the theater for an eternity.  The film stays as true to its Broadway musical counterpart as possible, but with a few exceptions.  Some songs were taken out, and one song was added just for the movie. 

Most musicals have at least some dialogue in some parts of the film, but there is almost no dialogue in Les Miserables.  So you better like a movie with essentially non-stop singing if you’re going to see this movie. 

In terms of actors’ performances, most are quite impressive, with the exception of Russell Crowe.  It is difficult to imagine him in a role that involves singing because he has an incredibly deep voice.  His singing is not great and he delivers by far the worst performance in this film.  It’s definitely not the role for him and I think he was miscast. 

Anne Hathaway on the other hand, never fails to impress.  She has a wonderful voice, and for the twenty or so minutes that she actually appears in the film, she is incredible.  Her solo of “I Dreamed a Dream” is a single take.  This single shot involves a wide range of emotions and she executes this role in a truly amazing fashion and, in my opinion, is the best single performance of the film.  It will have you applauding at the end.  

            My favorite overall performance though is that of Hugh Jackman.  The role of Jean Valjean on screen seems to be an unbelievably difficult role, and Jackman delivers a tremendous performance.  Not only is he a talented actor, but a great singer in this film. 

            Les Miserables is a far different musical from many other musicals.  In the past, actor’s voices were recorded in a studio for their singing performances, and sometimes, their voices were dubbed by a singer in the background.  In Les Miserables, all of the singing is done live and by the actors, giving the film a more natural sound and feeling. 

            The set design and costume design are both magnificent, and make this film seem almost larger than life.  I am a huge fan of epic films such as this, especially when these films impress me as much as this one. 

            Overall, Les Miserables is my favorite film of last year, even though many people disagree with me.  I give it an A+.