Movie Review: Les Miserables

Les Miserables

 

By Jeremy Cooper: Layout Editor

Director: Tom Hooper

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, Eddie Redmayne

Synopsis: After 19 years of imprisonment, a convict named Jean Veljean (Jackman) vows to become a better man, breaking his parole and incurring the wrath of a relentless police inspector named Javert (Crowe). The years-long pursuit encounters many obstacles, from a dying mother (Hathaway) and her child (Seyfried), a pair of dastardly innkeepers (Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen) and culminating with a group of students leading a revolution against the French Government.

*Note--I have not seen the show; I am judging this on its own terms as a movie.

Review: When adapting a musical as beloved as Les Miserables, one must wonder “How can this possibly go wrong at all?” Unfortunately, the long-awaited film adaptation does go badly wrong in some areas, but makes up for it by doing so well in others.

            The big problem lies with Tom Hooper’s direction, whose style employs numerous close-ups and Dutch angles. For something small-scale like The King’s Speech, this works well. For Les Miserables ,however, Hooper’s directorial tics are more distracting than anything else, with only a few select songs where the close-ups truly work (most notably in the I Dreamed A Dream sequence). Les Miserables is supposed to be an epic, but due to Hooper’s claustrophobic direction, it only rarely captures that feeling.

            On top of that, the editing is atrocious. How does one make a close-up shot of an actor’s face seem interesting? By showing several shots of that person’s face in different angles of course! Even worse are the cuts from one song to another. For example, Fantine sings her last song and before I could even so much as feel a reaction the camera suddenly cuts to Javert, who has magically teleported himself into the room and is already singing the next song. It’s jarring transitions like this that prevent me from becoming absorbed into the material and instead takes me out of the movie.

            The pacing issues also prevent me from getting emotionally invested in some of the supporting characters, many of whom receive very little development. I was also irked by some of the storytelling contrivances, most notably the romance that develops between the characters Cossette and Marius in the third act, who literally look at each other once and fall in love. There are Disney movies that are less clichéd than that.

            You probably think I hated this movie by now, but I didn’t; I actually enjoyed it. Why’s that? Because of the cast and the music. For all of Tom Hooper’s faults as a director, having the actors sing the songs live was not one of them. The singing in this movie is raw, real and emotional. For a musical, that’s more important than anything else.

            Hooper’s primary strength as an actor’s director also shines through. Hugh Jackman carries the film really well. It isn't a perfect performance, as there are moments where it seems like he’s talk-singing and he sings some songs better than others, but he has some truly fantastic moments to shine. Anne Hathaway’s much-buzzed performance as Fantine is a heartbreaking scene-stealer and her brief screen-time is easily the highlight. The rest of the supporting cast, particularly standouts such as Samantha Barks and Eddie Redmayne, are all absolutely fantastic.

However, Russell Crowe is the weakest link by far. Javert is supposed to be an intense, authoritative character, and while Crowe’s acting brings that commanding presence, his voice is sorely lacking in that department. At best, he sounds ok, but when he has to sing emotionally or hit big notes, he falls completely flat. Is it a bad performance? No. Is it a miscast one? Yes, unfortunately.

Consensus: In the hands of a better director, Les Miserables could have been a masterpiece. And yet, for all its flaws, it is still an enjoyable movie experience, highlighted by a superb cast singing some incredible music.

Verdict: 7 out of 10