Oscar season is
upon us. It’s the time of year when the studios bring out the best, all for a
shot at objects that are shiny and gold. Sure there are good movies that come
out all during the year, but make no mistake about it, the movies that are
coming are out now are the pride and joy of every studio. Some of these films
are small and come from nowhere, like “Silver Linings Playbook” while others
are large, like the grand “Les Miserables”
For those who
do not know about “Les Miserables”, all I can say is where have you been.
Written by Victor Hugo as a novel and turned into a film, then to a musical and
then back to a film that is a musical (everyone following?). The story follows
Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) from being released from prison, after serving time
for stealing a piece of bread. After taken refuge in a church, he is given a
second chance by a priest, and decides to shed his old life and start a new
one. Flash forward nine years, and we find Valjean now know as Monsieur
Madeleine, who is now a wealthy factory owner. Valjean has done well to hide
his past life, but fate brings a police inspector named Javert (Russell Crowe)
back into his life. Javert has sworn to never give up in his pursuit of
Valjean, and you can tell he means it in the way he sings. Valjean saves a prostitute
names Fantine (Anne Hathaway), who he discovers he may have been the cause of
her downward spiral in life. On Fantine’s death bed, Valjean promises to take
care of her daughter Cosette, and to always make sure she is never without.
It is easy to
go on about the story, because there is a lot of it. With a running time of 157
minutes, you might feel like an intermission would have been in order. Director
Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech) tired something new while filming”Les Miserables”.
Instead of having his actors sing there verses during post production, he had
them sing live while they were being filmed. I believe this helped and hurt
some of the performances. Hugh Jackman is good, while Russell Crowe sounds like
he missed his calling to be a rock star. The real star is Hathaway, who uses
the small amount of time on the screen to make sure you remember her. Her
performance of “I Dreamed a Dream” maybe the best ten minutes I have seen on
film in the last ten years. The problem is that the rest of the film doesn’t
live up to that moment. “Les Miserables” is a good movie, which has more than a
few moments in it that will make you looking at your watch. It will also have
you not being able to take your eyes of the screen at other times. Musicals are
not for everyone, and this is one of those movies some will have a hard time
sitting through. For those who love movies like this, there is some magic, but
for those who don’t you are not missing to much.
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