Review: 'Les Miserables'

Universal Pictures 

Musicals always seem to have a grand style to them. Maybe it is the choreographing that comes with a musical or just the fact that the majority of the dialogue is being sang but for whatever reason they always feel much bigger than your standard film. Les Miserables is no exception when describing musicals as grand. In fact, Les Miserables may be the grandest of them all with larger than life vocals and approach. My question is: does grand automatically translate to great? At times, Les Miserables is great with excellent musical numbers, strong vocals and heartfelt plot devices but its story seems to lose focus and starts to appear that it is better fit for the stage.

It is acts of kindness and mercy that is the driving force behind Les Miserables’ story.  It all begins when Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman), ex-prisoner on parole, steals from the same Bishop that gave him a place to stay. After the authorities catch him trying to flee, they take him back to the Bishop and tell him what happened. Instead of showing anger and shunning Jean, the Bishop says that Jean did not steal the silver items but that they were given to him. Shocked of what the Bishop did for him, Jean has a change of heart. In order to do so though, Jean has to break his parole which causes the corrupt lawmen, Javert (Russell Crowe) to endlessly search for him. Eight years later, in his new life, Jean is the mayor of Montreuil-sur-Mer. It is here that he prevents Fantine (Anne Hathaway), a badly hurt woman, from being arrested. After seeing how hurt she is, Jean rushes Fantine to the hospital but she passes away and Jean decides to raise her daughter, Cosette (Isabelle Allen). Years later, Cosette (Amanda Seyfried) as young a woman becomes the love interest of Marius Pontmercy (Eddie Redmayne), leader of a revolution against the government.     

The music along with the vocals that come with it could not be any stronger in Les Miserables. Every musical number fits right in with the scene that it is a part of. The tone of the music also goes well with the mood of the scene or in several cases sets the mood. With the films dialogue being sang rather than spoken, strong vocal talents become very important. Fortunately for Les Miserables, its strongest quality is its vocal performances. The films two headliners, Anne Hathaway and Hugh Jackman, both give stunning performances. Hathaway’s rendition of ‘I Dreamed a Dream’ is beautiful and Jackman’s powerful voice goes so well with the films grand style. These are not the only noteworthy vocal performances though as virtually every performer holds their own.

Russell Crowe may not have one of the better voices of the cast but I really enjoyed his performance. His rougher, limited range voice went well with the character of Javert but also had a nice sound to it that blended well with the vocals of Jackman. Even the young cast members, Isabelle Allen and Daniel Huttlestone, give memorable performances. I was very impressed by the on screen presents of Huttlestone as he took over scenes that he was a part of.

Les Miserables also has its fair share of touching moments that have nothing to do with music. It’s theme of acts of kindness or mercy and the impact they can have is heartfelt by itself but it is the moments or decisions made by characters that share this message. Whether it be the Bishop letting Jean steal his belongings or Eponine giving her life to save others, there are a handful of scenes that are heavy in emotional affect. One would think that this would eventually get tiresome but surprisingly does not. This could be because it plays such a major role in the films central theme. It could also not be an issue because it matches the emotional affect that the films musical numbers naturally have. It is just unfortunate that rest of film doesn’t have this type of focus, especially its finale.

After a strong first half, Les Miserables appears to lose steam as its story wonders off and craftsmanship loses its edge. The story tries to go back and forth between the blooming relationship between Cosette and Marius, Eponine’s love for Marius, Jean trying to stay clear of Javert and the revolution that is taking place but becomes a tangled up, hard to follow plot that ultimately goes nowhere. It comes off as film that tries to do too much and while it looks nice, it struggles to keep the audience invested. 

Due to its grand appearance but muddled plot, Les Miserables gives the impression that the format it would work the best in is a stage production. I have not seen the stage production but from how the film played, it seems that this is a spectacle that would be better on stage than in film form due to the overabundance of close ups and little movement. With that said though, if you’re strictly looking for a musical and not more than that, you will not need to look any further than Les Miserables. Without question, its strongest attributes is its musical numbers and vocals with the story takes a back seat.   

Grade: C+