Thursday, January 3, 2013

Les Misérables

We took Tejal to see Les Misérables on Tuesday.  Back in High School Les Miz was all the rage.  I never got into it---I never even read it.

When I saw a thingy about how this version was filmed live--no lip syncing or dubbing, I really wanted to see it. I like Huge Ackman, so seeing him in a movie is a plus.

I didn't know the story, I didn't know the music.  I hadn't seen any other version.  I was a Le Miz virgin.  I was expecting a musical, but this was more like opera--they sang the whole thing, but not in operatic style.  Hugh Jackman's performance was stellar.  I enjoyed his acting and his singing.  I can even say the same for Russel Crowe and Anne Hathaway, and I'm not a big fan of either one of them.

I did not enjoy the singing of Amanda Seyfried or Eddie Redmayne.  Seyfried sounded forced and wobbly.  Redmayne sounded even more forced and a little operatic.  He kept doing strange things with his mouth that I found distracting.  Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter as the comic relief was a little odd, but they did a fine job.

I overall really liked this movie.  I enjoyed the story and the music.  I do think that filming it live made a difference.  I don't think it could have been dubbed with the same emotion--so bravo to director Tom Hooper for taking on such an enormous project.  It was a long movie, but it didn't feel very long.  I highly recommend this movie.

1 comment:

Disobedient Tiger said...

eponine was my favorite character in the book. samantha barks made her my favorite in this film.