| Revisiting the Les Miz film 8 years later; only a my 2nd viewing | |
| Last Edit: Delvino 09:17 am EST 02/06/22 | |
| Posted by: Delvino 09:13 am EST 02/06/22 | |
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| The week of Jackman's B'way opening seemed a good time to take another look at Les Miserables. For inexplicable reasons -- I was an admirer of the show, having seen it with all the originals at the RSC/Barbican before it became a global phenom -- I haven't revisited the film a second time since my Christmas 2014 viewing. My biggest takeaway is how good Jackman is. It's not news exactly, but the performance isn't discussed much, and I was grabbed from the prologue, when the lean, head-shaved Valjean is so immediately accessible. I was impressed with his relative understatement, no matter how bombastic the famous musical swells may be. The live singing gives him a performance gravitas that the camera records. But he doesn't push when he doesn't have to, which I hadn't recalled. Was he under-appreciated? The Oscar nomination was fully earned. I will cause outrage, but I remain curiously unmoved by Hathaway, as I was on the first viewing. In what we later learned was her 4th take out of 20+ for "I Dreamed a Dream," she certainly leaves it all on the soundstage floor. Perhaps she might've withheld about 20%. I have no critique of her work, she's an actor trusting her director, just Hooper's choice. I suspect this take, so agonizing from the start, impressed everyone on the production. But -- this is heresy, I know -- it's still a song, and I would've been happier to hear more of it. The film's reliance on closeups has been discussed, and Hathaway both benefits and loses something from the decision. Not much else to say, Bonham Carter is terrific, a standout for me, the young men all fine, Tveit intense and chilly, as befits the character. The movie is true to the stage show but still feels exhausting at times, chugging onward as that relentless score presses us into the next dark chapter, the camera furtively exploring the grisly era, the CGI unfortunately standing out more than I recalled. Anyway, Jackman's next big week arrives, years in the making. If -- just my opinion -- Jean Valjean seems a slightly better fit than Hill, there's no denying his powerhouse presence in musical theater. It may be event casting, but despite cynics sometimes grousing otherwise, he's selling tickets for a reason. |
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