A Night at the Cinema: Les Miserables

You've probably heard all the die-hard fans out there raving and exulting and informing everyone they know about this movie, but I figured it was time for some input from someone who had no prior knowledge about the movie whatsoever. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. On Christmas Day, my best friend and I hopped in the car and took off for the nearest movie theater just in time to catch the 3:30 showing of Les Miserables (keep in mind I am far too lazy to put the proper accents on the appropriate letters of the title).

In case you're like me and you entered the theater with no earthly idea as to what was happening, here's a quick backstory:


The movie contains many subplots, but the main thread is the story of ex-convict Jean Valjean, who becomes a force of good in the world after getting a second chance at life. But he cannot escape his dark past, which surfaces in the form of Javert, a member of the French police who is determined to carry out his lawful duty to arrest Valjean for skipping parole and something else (which is vital to the plot and would be a potential spoiler if I told you). The movie, adopted from the musical adaptation of the original novel, follows Valjean's journey to do good and all of the roadblocks along the way.

 

So my initial reaction to the first five minutes of the movie was: Oh no. Are they going to be singing the ENTIRE time?

It was in fact a pure musical, with intermittent moments where characters spoke, but most often they were singing. And I'm not one for musicals usually, but let me tell you... once you get past the initial shock that they're seriously not going to stop singing... it's absolutely fantastic. (WARNING: These songs WILL get superglued to your brain. You will NOT get them out of your head. It's been a little over a week and I'm still bursting out into song).

Here's a list of things that made the movie so fantastic:

• Just take one look at the star-studded cast. In my opinion, Hugh Jackman was PERFECT for Valjean. Russel Crowe made for an intimidating Javert. Anne Hathaway made me cry with her stunning, flawless performance as the heartbreaking Fantine (certainly Oscar-worthy). Did anyone else know she could sing so beautifully? Because I surely didn't. And then there's Amanda Seyfried, who while doing nothing particularly extraordinary is perfect as sweet and innocent adult Cosette. Of course, I couldn't forget Helena Bonham Carter, who actually made me laugh out loud a couple times as the devious and eccentric Madame Thenardier.

          Oh, and the eye candy award goes to the one and only Aaron Tveit.

 

 

'NUFF SAID :-D

• The storyline was just so beautiful. I love a good redemption story, and Jean Valjean has the perfect tale of doing something good and righteous with your second chance. I was completely enamored with the entire plot, which was beautifully displayed in musical form. Truly, truly breathtaking. I won't lie, I cried. The movie was so good, in fact, that the original novel form of Les Miserables written by Victor Hugo is now on my Must-Read list. However, it's 1,500 pages long, so it's definitely a summer project.

• The attention to historical detail was unparalleled. Throughout the entire movie I really felt as if I had been transported back to the time of the French Revolution, and not the glorified version that you come up with in your brain when you read about it in textbooks. You really see the destitution, the depravity, and the hopelessness that many people endured. Honestly, it was a culture shock.

 

I have few to no bad things to say about this movie, other than that Javert's obsession with arresting Valjean never made complete sense with me. This could be a viewer's error; I might have missed an important piece of dialogue or something just didn't translate perfectly for me. But other than this small thing, I truly thought the film was amazing. Go see it.

 

MPAA RATING: PG-13

MY PERSONAL SUGGESTED AGE: 14-15

MY PERSONAL RATING: 9.5/10 stars

 

Happy viewing!

 

~ Lacey :)