Saw it today, "what a load of crap" one person said as he was walking out at the end of the film, personally I'm not that far behind him, the start of the movie was brilliant, the middle dragged a bit, the end was pretty good. Mind you I was dragged to go and see it as its not my thing, my other half wanted to see it.

 

Anne Hathaway's part in the film was fairly short lived. I didn't know Russell Crowe could sing.

 

Éponine was originally to be casted by Taylor Swift.

Didn't he know what he was getting himself into though?! I absolutely HATE when people go to see, say, a horror movie when they don't even like the genre. And then complain how it was 'shit' when they are CLEARLY biased against it from the very beginning. Ugh.

Even though this genre isn't for me, I was amazed by how much I loved this! I had to get used to all the singing, instead of spoken dialogues, but what an amazing film! Especially Anne Hathaway and Hugh Jackman's performances were mind blowing!

I didn't know Russell Crowe could sing.

 

He can't.

BEST FLASH MOB EVER!

 

 

:wub:

I've never seen the stage show but I normally love a good musical and thought this was all a bit much. Having it all sung held it back for me (though that's probably combined with the time setting). Didn't realise Anne Hathaway's role was so small either, not enough of her and too much Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe.

 

Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter were my highlights. :lol:

Just got back from seeing this. This was fantastic. It was a bit strange seeing a film that was almost entirely sung, but I thought it was brilliant. I got a little confused at some points, I'm not overly familiar with the French Revolution and

it took me a while to even notice that Anne Hathaway's brilliant character had died (I though Jean was bringing Cosette back to her lol)

. Very impressed though.

Anne Hathaway's I Dreamed A Dream and Samantha Barks's On My Own are STUNNING, I think I might have to give this a go.

He can't.

Yes he can. He's not got the best voice in the world, but he's not that bad.

I'm not overly familiar with the French Revolution

 

It's not set during the French Revolution, it's set a few decades later. Obviously there's still lingering problems though!

 

Yes he can. He's not got the best voice in the world, but he's not that bad.

 

He's not as bad as Pierce Brosnan in Mamma Mia!, but he couldn't find the melody most of the time and it was all delivered in such a weak, trembling tone. That said, I didn't think most of the cast were fantastic singers - Samantha Barks brought her skills from the stage, Hugh Jackman's always had a fairly good singing voice and Eddie Redmayne was surprisingly rich, but otherwise I didn't find them very impressive. Although obviously a movie demands a different type of singing from the stage and I can't really argue with the emotional power of Anne Hathaway's big moment.

Hugh Jackman & Anne Hathaway win their categories for their performances in this film at the Golden Globes! :D And this wins best picture; comedy or musical, too. I can't tell you how happy I am about this! :wub:

The minute Anne Hathaway came on screen, I was in tears.

 

But the Thénardiers needed to be WAY bigger. Like CGIed or different actors, the joke is,

when their pulled out the wedding at the end, their so heavy, half the chorus has to carry them out

 

I thought it was absolutely fantastic, Up there with my over favourite musicals. I need to see the stage show asap!

Took over £8 million in it's opening weekend. HUGE for a musical! :o

Going to see this on Saturday, heard nothing but good things about it so will be looking forward to watching it!

Samantha stole the show for me, probably because her character's story is so sad and heartbreaking, plus she's gorgeous and so talented!

 

Anne's I dreamed a dream was incredible.

I saw this tonight, and despite finding the acting all varying levels of incredible, along with fantastic/emotive vocals, I wasn't completely sold. Perhaps it was the shock of the whole film being sung, as well as not being familiar with the French history. Overall very confusing, but heartbreaking obviously.

I went into this expecting a VERY LONG FILM and in that respect it's what I was handed, however it was much better than I had expected. Oddly the first half whizzed by nice and quickly, but once the whole revolution shit started kicking in it all slowed down a bit.

 

Vocally I was very surprised by Hugh Jackman who I though was brilliant, I'd heard Anne a few times so knew it was pretty awesome also. I got a few dirty looks from old women when I burst out laughing at the 'MY NAME IS JEAN VALJEAN' 'I AM JAVERT' exchange and pretty much any time Russel started singing. It wasn't even BAD, I just found it utterly hysterical for no apparent reason (aside, perhaps, from his obsession with walking dangerously close to the edge of tall buildings and referring to himself in the third person). I didn't QUITE by his near 20 year CRUSADE against JEAN VALJEAN though, especially not as he managed to be so close to him every time he found him, but let go for ALMOST A DECADE in between. That's mainly my desire to find fault in everything though.

 

It was also quite amusing to see fishlips Redmayne and bigeyes Seyfried fall in love in 3 seconds too and then carry the rest of the film in that manner. I did quite like them as a couple, but it all felt a bit ODD again. Oh and Samantha Barks is so THIN, I was worried she might blow away or be washed away by a stream - I know she was playing a poor street person, but EAT SOMETHING LOVE.

 

Overall a 7/10 - a bit too long, the almost completely sung thing was a bit jarring and some of the characters less than believable, but a very enjoyable way to kill half your life.

So as ever I am two months behind the rest of the world, and only caught up with this tonight. I have never seen the show, so had no pre-knowledge of the plot, characters or songs, or how they compare to the stage. I also HATE musicals at the best of the times, let alone non-humourous ones that last for over three hours solid, so I'm really not the target audience for this.

 

But this wasn't TOO BAD, and I guess that this actually got applause in the cinema at the end confirms that. There were plenty of moments where I nearly nodded off, but there were a few highlights. Anne Hathaway's I Dreamed A Dream really is as astonishing as all the reviews have been raving, probably the only time where I was completely captivated for more than a two-minute block at a time. OSCAR PLEASE.

 

Elsewhere, Hugh Jackman was very good, Russell Crowe utterly out of place (and I must concur with Johnkm on the RIDICULOUSNESS of the opening Jackman/Crowe sing-a-long exchange with the quite unpoetic and clunky lyrics), and bravo to the make-up team for their marvellous work on browning everyone's teeth. I've never found Hugh Jackman less fanciable.

Bonham-Carter and Baron-Cohen SAVED the film in the respect that OH LORD does the film need those few 30-second interludes of utter NONSENSE to break up the steady flow of abject misery. Their drunk sing-a-long as they pick-pocketed the alcoholics was rather enjoyable if at total loggerheads with the rest of the production.

Amanda Seyfried was a total NON-ENTITY though, barely registering a presence which seemed strange given that her character seems to be the catalyst/motivation for much that happens in the second half. Eddie Redmayne also does nothing for me; lifeless singing and only one facial expression throughout (punchable pouting fish). I actually had to look away during the whole moments where those two supposedly fall in love, because it really was too LUDICROUS and MADDENING watching Redmayne try to blow off a social revolution because he exchanged one brief solitary look with an unremarkable girl a couple of hours before. I wanted his radical leader friend (who was LOVELY) to punch him in the face. Whilst I have no idea how that particular love story translates on stage or in the novel, on film it just DID NOT WORK, not just for the reasons previously stated but also that Samantha Barks' rather fine Éponine was a so much more sympathetic and engaging character, even if the death scene itself was a little underwhelming.

 

Still, I'm sure in truth it's the 10/10 epic that everybody else believes, even if I wish I'd had a fast forward button for much of it.

Edited February 13, 201312 yr by Shoat

I love Shoat's fleeting visits.

Alas, I am aware that these days my visits are mostly to speak of Hollyoaks of all things, and if that isn't a sign of terminable decline I don't know what is. I blame old age.