Les Miserables

I am going to start right away on this one.

However I see the appeal of an "all star cast", I was not as impressed by the people they chose.

Hugh Jackman: a great actor for the part of Jean Valjean but not strong vocally. There were some sections of awkward talk-singing, whether that was Hugh Jackman or the director's decision or the vocal coach's decision is beyond me.

Anne Hathaway: While her performance was very passionate and I was very impressed that she sang that whole song in one take, I thought the vocal technique was lacking. As a seasoned singer, choral member, and someone who has performed Les Mis before, she just did not fully make it for me. I appreciate that Anne lost the weight for this role, trying to make this as real as possible for herself and the audience. In theory, I liked the idea of her actually cutting off her hair for the movie it did not play as well in the movie. 1) in the original play Fantine is blonde with curly hair and Anne is not (which isn't a big deal) 2) when her hair is cut, it is cut to chin length like a bob, so when she becomes a lovely lady she isn't totally ugly. I was a bit surprised that the sailor guy still wanted to have sex with her when she looked so utterly pitiful, but I guess that is the point.

Russel Crowe: Again, he was not a terrible choice as an actor to play Javert. However, this man is not a base and is barely a baritone. Javert should have a low menacing singing voice and Crowe unfortunately didn't pull it off for me.

Amanda Seyefried: She did not sound like she was singing. It sounded like her voice was created in a sound booth. It was very high and breathy and there were some notes she did not completely reach. Every other Cosette has more body to her voice. There is vibrato and their voice is like sweet honey or a flock of doves soaring through the air. That is what they sound like. Cosette's voice in this film sounded like Katy Perry's plastic bag drifting through the wind. I thought Amanda was a good actor for the role but not for the voice. I think there is a pattern here with how the director cast these roles. Hmm...

Eddie Redmayne: Eddie played Marius in this film adaptation of the musical which was adapted from a GIANT book. His singing overall was alright. There were some times when he dipped into vibrato that he sounded like Kermit the frog singing Rainbow Connection. I love kermit the frog, but he doesn't belong in Les Mis. I also found that Eddie's face and they way they styled his hair, sort of spiked up, made him look much more modern then he should have looked. He looked like a 2012 guy placed in the 1800s.

Samantha Barks: Samantha played Eponine in the film. Similar to Marius, her hair and face looked very modern. She looked like a 21st century girl placed in the 19th century. As I look back at the photos, she doesn't have on as much makeup as I had remembered in my head, but still she looks like she's in the wrong time.

Helena Bonham Carter and Sasha Bara Cohen: I thought these were two of the best people to play the Thenardiers. However, I have a problem with the tone the director picked for the film and how he protrayed the Thenardiers. 1) The patrons of their inn weren't supposed to know they were being robbed. If I came in with a breifcase and left with a basket holding a baby, I think I would go back and complain. 2) the director tried to tone this movie down, make it more realistic and relatable. IT IS A MUSICAL FOR GODSAKE. Where are all the drunk people singing master of the house and dancing around?? Where was the POW!?

-I liked how in this film version they were able to show Javert's death. You would never get that in a stage production. However I thought the death could have been more dramatic. I liked the foreshadowing of him killing himself when he was walking up on the ledge singing Stars.
-I thought having Jean Valjean in the carriage while singing "one day more" was weird and awkward. You can't sing passionately through a window.
-I had huge problems with the camera. While I understand, that in a movie you can have close-ups that you could never have with an on-stage performance, zooming in on just their face for the whole song is very uncomfortable. It diminished the effect of the song "empty chairs at empty tables" because all we saw was Marius's face. My sympathy for Fantine felt forced during "I Dreamed a Dream" because it felt like the camera was saying "look how sad she is! feel bad for her! Don't you feel bad". I also felt the close ups on Eponine made me think she was anything but alone during "On My Own".


Despite all my negative criticisms, I left the theatre sobbing. No matter how badly a director screws it up, Les Miserables will have sustaining power. The music itself is so powerful and emotional to people of all ages. There is a reason that Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil decided to turn Victor Hugo's monster of a book into this musical dream. It is lovely and will forever be lovely.