Les Misérables

***
Dir. Tom Hooper

I went into this film thinking it would be one of my five star reviews, an instant classic that would leave a legacy for generations to come. In 2010, Tom Hooper blew me away with The King's Speech, and I expected no less from this film. However, while this did do justice to the broadway musical and to Victor Hugo's novel for the most part, it was not the epic masterpiece I anticipated.

For those of you unfamiliar with the story, it takes place in the wake of the French Revolution, and is centered around the life of a man named Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman). After spending 19 years in prison for stealing a loaf of bread, he undergoes a great change when he is shown mercy by a Bishop he meets. As the years go by and he becomes a respected member of society, he meets a helpless woman named Fantine (Anne Hathaway) who desperately tries to care for her daughter Cosette. As he takes the girl in, all the while pursued by the tyrannical Inspector Javert (Russell Crowe), his life plays a pivotal role in a number of other characters. The plot is epic, and I'm not gonna waste time summarizing every aspect of it.

Let me go ahead and say what kept me from giving this film five stars. It's no doubt the music and acting are great, but I expected more from Hooper from a cinematic standpoint. Nearly every shot is a close-up, to the point where it is tedious to watch. While I understand the desire to emphasize the facial expressions of the actors on screen, I also want to see more of the elaborate settings which the production crew has so artfully constructed. This film is just under 3 hours, and there's virtually no variety with the camera angles.

Furthermore, the pacing was very rushed. Most movies today have an average shot length of 1-1.5 seconds, if that. I expected something different from a film like this. There are several really spectacular images, especially at the beginning and end, that I wanted to see more of.

The best aspect was Hooper's choice to use live music rather than pre-recorded. Anne Hathaway's performance of "I Dreamed a Dream" was the most breathtaking scene for me. The way she embodied the character was truly remarkable. Next to her, the best acting was done by Jackman and Eddie Redmayne as Marius. Crowe gives a decent performance, but nowhere near as good as his work in Gladiator and A Beautiful Mind.

The screenplay combined elements from the Broadway Musical script and the novel, and was written beautifully. All 49 songs included, it was definitely one of the highlights of the film. The disappointing aspect was in how it was presented.

While Hooper's version of this classic tale was well done and satisfactory, I wasn't blown away as I thought I'd be. I went in thinking it would be as spectacular as Scorsese's Hugo last year, and found myself not half as moved by the time the credits rolled.