Frankly, if you cannot embrace the structure of musicals and their reliance on music numbers to drive the narrative forward, then I don't have a lot of time for you. I don't mean to make this personal, but I have no chance in changing your opinion. So, if you don't like musicals, stop reading... now...
Les Misérables is a complex story full of interweaving story lines. It primarily deals with Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) who has been imprisoned for stealing a loaf of bread. When Inspector Javert (Russell Crowe) sets him free on parole, Jean Valjean decides to skip parole and build a new life for himself. He soon establishes himself as a respectable factory owner, where one of his employees Fantine (Anne Hathaway) is fired by the foreman for having an illegitimate child, Cosette (Isabelle Allen) that she has left with two shady characters, Thénardier (Sasha Baron Cohen) and Madame Thénardier (Helena Bonham Carter). Jean Valjean promises to keep Cosette safe (a now grown up Amanda Seyfried), whilst also on the run from Inspector Javert. However, Paris, France is in the grip of a revolution - as Marius (Eddie Redmayne) and Enjolras (Aaron Tveit) lead a group of students to the barricades, Eponine (Samantha Barks) has fallen for Marius, but he soon falls head over heals in love with Cosette. In the midst of the battle between the student revolutionists and Inspector Javert and the French elite, decisions will be made that will change their lives forever.
I hope I've made that sound dramatic enough, because if it's one thing that Les Misérables can't be criticised on is having a simple storyline. The film does really well to pack in all the stage show's twists and turns into a 157 minute running time (that feels surprisingly quick). The fact that Director, Tom Hooper (The King's Speech, The Damned United) didn't try to skimp on any of the plot points and paid full respect to the stage show was a wise choice. If he had chosen to overlook certain plot points, I'm sure there would have been angry fans everywhere.
However, one of the main points of Les Misérables was always going to be the cast - should they cast good singers or good actors? It was always going to be a tough choice, considering The Phantom of the Opera (2004) was criticised for hiring actors, instead of singers. The fact is, Tom Hooper and casting director, Nina Gold decided to go for actors that could sing. But then the decision was made that the actors would sing live on set and that there wouldn't be any dubbing and lip synching. It all seemed very suspicious. However, I can clear it up now that the performance of the songs in Les Misérables was pretty spot on. While it seemed a little bit questionable at the start - some of Jackman's singing as Jean Valjean felt a little flat - it soon seemed to get into the swing of things. Now, you won't exactly be rushing out to buy the soundtrack, as you will probably be sticking to your Original West End/Broadway Cast Recording CD, but for the purpose of film, the actors did a fine job in breathing life into the songs. Special mention has to go to Anne Hathaway and the meaning that she injected into I Dreamed a Dream and Come to Me - it was heartbreaking.
The troubles with the casting of Les Misérables were few and far between, and any hiccups could be largely overlooked. I had some slight issues with Sasha Baron Cohen as Thénardier, because he didn't feel like a strong enough presence (I'd have stuck with Matt Lucas from the 25th Anniversary Concert if they needed a famous face.) However, my biggest issue was the casting of Russell Crowe as Inspector Javert - my main issue was that he just wasn't imposing enough to be the Inspector that was hunting Jean Valjean throughout the whole film. His singing was... passable, but his acting wasn't up to scratch. His only ounce of emotion seemed to come through when he sang Stars, but his suicide song fell flat on it's arse.
The emotional impact of Les Misérables has to be it's strongest point as a musical and as a piece of entertainment - it's a gut wrenching story that will wring you dry in terms of how much you can see the characters endure. Almost every single one of them goes through some kind of pain and the complexity of the story just helps you have some kind of empathy for them. For some reason, the film fails, in some respects, to grab you emotionally like the stage version can. While the film is undoubtedly a depressingly emotional piece, it wasn't until when Eponine was singing A Little Fall of Rain that I started to feel any kind of emotion. Hathaway's portrayal of Fantine was brilliant, but she falls victim to the fact that her character is barely in the story long enough for you to truly care for her (not the film's fault, purely a plot point of the musical as well).
Having said all of that, the negatives that I am pointing out are merely nitpicking, because Les Misérables is a beautiful and haunting piece of cinema that is a great adaptation of the stage musical. The directorial style of Tom Hooper is inspired for this film in particular - the awkward angles, extreme close-ups and gritty hand-held style lend amazingly well to the poor and decaying 19th Century France which the story in set in. While the choice to record the songs live on set was a great choice in adding an emotional depth to the songs, from an acting point of view, the extreme close-ups on the character allowed us to be even more involved in their emotional troubles.
So, if you are a fan of musicals, then Les Misérables is the perfect silver screen adaption of your favourite musical. If you are not a musical fan, then you will probably find it too long, too slow and too boring, but no one really cares...
**** / *****
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