"Les Misérables (2012)" Movie Review

"Les Misérables" movie poster.

"Based on the novel by Victor Hugo, 'Les Misérables' travels with prisoner-on-parole, 24601, Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman), as he runs from the ruthless Inspector Javert (Russell Crowe) on a journey beyond the barricades, at the center of the June Rebellion. Meanwhile, the life of a working class girl (Anne Hathaway) with a child is at a turning point when she turns to prostitution to pay money to the evil innkeeper and his wife (Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter) who look after her child, Cosette (Isabelle Allen). Valjean promise to take care of the child, eventually leads to a love triangle between Cosette (Amanda Seyfried), Marius (Eddie Redmayne) who is a student of the rebellion, and Eponine (Samantha Barks), a girl of the streets. The people sing of their anger and Enjolras (Aaron Tveit) leads the students to fight upon the barricades." Written by JBW (Source below.)

Anne Hathaway (being carried) and Hugh Jackman.

Directed by Tom Hooper ("The King's Speech", "John Adams" TV Mini-Series, "Elizabeth I" TV Mini-Series) and based on the original stage musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg, Alain Boubil, Jean-Marc Natel, and Herbert Kretzmer. The screenplay was written by William Nicholson ("Elizabeth: The Golden Age", "Gladiator", "First Knight") with additional text written by James Fenton.

Russell Crowe.

In the starring role is Hugh Jackman ("The Prestige", "X-Men"). He does an excellent job and I don't think he's getting enough accolades for it. Opposite him is Russell Crowe ("Gladiator", "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World"), who, though not a singer, holds his own. He wasn't terrible and I think he acted the part rather well. For the record, Javert is my favorite character out of the whole musical. Anne Hathaway ("The Devil Wears Prada", "The Dark Knight Rises") isn't in it for very long, but she is brilliant and will probably win supporting actress come Oscar time.  Though her vibrato bothered me a bit, Amanda Seyfried ("Mean Girls", "Mamma Mia") was also very good. Her character doesn't have too much depth to her so in consideration of that she did well. 

Amanda Seyfried (L)
and Eddie Redmayne.

Sacha Baron Cohen ("Hugo", "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street") and Helena Bonham Carter ("Alice in Wonderful", "The King's Speech"), even though they tried really hard to be funny, it just didn't work for me. Cohen was the only one with a French accent and it was a bad French accent. They were okay, Carter could've sung her parts louder, but her acting was good. Eddie Redmayne ("Black Death", "My Week With Marilyn") was good, but his face shook every time he sung a long note out and that was a bit distracting. Aaron Tveit ("Ghost Town", "Howl", "Premium Rush") was cute and had a great voice, but in comparison to the Enjolras I saw on Broadway (in about 2009) really got me gung-ho about the revolution. Tveit was adorable, but I didn't fall in love with him like I did the one onstage. 

Samantha Barks.

Samantha Barks ("Les Misérables in Concert: The 25th Anniversary") is basically known for being an amazing Eponine onstage so I think she suffers from the same thing that Jackman is going through right now: because everyone knows that she's a great stage actress, she's not getting the praise that is due her way. Daniel Huttlestone was wonderful as Gavroche. He has an excellent voice and was oftentimes singing rings around the other actors in the scene. And Colm Wilkinson ("The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall") was the Bishop that shows Jean Valjean some kindness and helps him to become a better man. He wasn't in it very long but he does an excellent job with his part as well.

"Les Misérables"
movie poster.

The makeup, or rather lack thereof, was brilliant. Everything was done very realistically. You saw how dirty, disgusting and sick everyone was. Also, everything seemed historically accurate which is something that can't always be shown in a musical stage production. The clothes were very good. I still don't think it's going to win "Best Picture" though. Because of the way they filmed everything, they had to keep very close to the actors. The actors were really singing while they were being filmed. This is what people actually sound like when they sing. 

Russell Crowe.

I had to watch this musical two times before I could write a review (damn people!). If you know the musical, you will notice that they cut some parts out and put some parts in. Most of it doesn't matter to the overall movie. I really liked how they humanized Javert. This wasn't something that could be done onstage. He was obviously changed by the end of the movie.

Also, Lisa Schwarzbaum: who the hell watches a movie musical when they don't even like musicals?!

I would like to read the book one day. I read an abridged version in high school some years ago, but the only part I remember is when Eponine is helping some old guy water his flowers while spouting off revolutionary, political jargon. 

Also, this review, featuring Sourcefed's Meg and Trisha:

Sources: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1707386/plotsummary and http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1707386/fullcredits#cast.