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| The casts' Oscar performance was more enjoyable than the film itself. |
Steve already provided a thoughtful
and in-depth analysis of Les Misérables,
so I’m going to cut straight to the point with my assessment. I found the film to
be the weakest of the 2012’s Best Picture contenders. Part of that has to do
with this year’s strong slate, but, outside of that, I just wasn’t into the
film, which left me pretty cold and uninterested (a major problem for a
production that relies heavily on emotional investment).
To be fair, I’m not the
biggest fan of the stage production anyway, so the deck was stacked against the
movie. I think Les Mis has a
fantastic soundtrack, and the strength of the music can make for quite an
emotional rollercoaster on the stage, but as a narrative, I’ve never been all
that impressed. Other than two martyrs and a hardhead, every character is
woefully underdeveloped. This is especially obvious in the case of Cosette,
who’s nothing more than a plot device despite being the connecting tissue that
binds most of the major characters together. In other words, she’s basically
the human equivalent of a macguffin in an Indiana Jones film.
Getting back to the film
itself, director Tom Hooper is a major part of the problem. Although I admire
his decision to have the actors do all the singing live on set (a call that led
to a well-deserved sound mixing Oscar), his cutting of the film is almost
nonsensical at times, especially during the first hour or so. He makes the
interesting choice to use extended close-ups during solos, but more often than
not, that results in the whole affair seeming small when what he’s really going
for is intimate (if that makes any sense).
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| Samantha Barks and her distractingly tight corset. |
All of the actors do decent
jobs with what their given. Hugh Jackman does most of the heavy lifting in this
thing, and he’s solid throughout and has a great voice, so his Oscar nomination
was hard won. And Anne Hathaway is fully-committed in the role that won her an
Oscar. It’s essentially a one-note performance, and I wasn’t nearly as moved by
the portrayal as many critics were, but girl’s a good actress and she sings
pretty well, so that’s that.
Meanwhile, despite the
plethora of criticism I’ve heard, I found Russell Crowe to be pretty good.
Hooper does the man no favors with the way his exit scene was cut and staged,
but Crowe lends a sense of gravitas to a relentless role that can get pretty
frustrating for viewers at times. As for his singing voice – it’s not all that
bad. He’s clearly not a match for his cast mates, but it’s not like he pulls a Pierce
Brosnan in Mamma Mia. He carries the tune well enough, and his voice has a
unique quality to it that contrasts nicely with the rest of the cast.
Oddly enough, I thought the film
came across as a powerhouse during the Oscar ceremony itself. The clip reel
they cut to showcase it was expertly edited, and the entire cast performed a
fantastic medley on stage. If I hadn’t seen the movie already, I would’ve have
been tricked into thinking this was a truly great movie musical. But
regrettably, the spark from that telecast is not in the actual film. C+
