Les Misérables film

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Okay this topic was probably covered two weeks ago on here, but as you may or may not know, us in the UK only got this film yesterday!

I really enjoyed it as it didn't deviate too far from the musical version but at the same time was different enough to be enjoyable. Apart from Russell Crowe, who I thought was not really 'feeling it' with Javert, I was impressed with all of the cast members. I was very tempted to jump up and join in with some of the songs but I managed to keep myself under control! What did everyone else think of it?

Also can we just stop with the Anne Hathaway hair thing, there's a whole other thread for that...

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I have HFA, ADHD, OCD & Tourette syndrome. I love animals, especially my bunnies and hamster. I skate in a roller derby team (but I'll try not to bite )

I am not really sure about going to see it. Not really my cup of tea musicals. is there a lot of songs in the film. There was film not with singing in it about 10 years ago it was ok.

This one is based on the musical so there is a lot of singing. That's why I like it personally! If you like the story without the singing there are a lot of older versions although I can't think where to get them!

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I have HFA, ADHD, OCD & Tourette syndrome. I love animals, especially my bunnies and hamster. I skate in a roller derby team (but I'll try not to bite )

When I heard Sacha Baron Cohen was going to be in this movie I could just tell they were going to make him the innkeeper! A world-renowned comic actor playing the comic relief... surely this would be a recipe for unmitigated disaster of the laugh box!

I liked it, I didn't know anything about it before seeing it. I really want to see it on stage now with proper singers. Anne Hathaway should win an award as it was her performance that made me commit to watching the rest of the film.

Did Russel Crowe actually sing?

Yeah.......he should stick with acting, which was good in this

I appreciate its ambition on having all of the cast sing on camera instead of lip-sych the musical numbers.

But more than two-thirds of the film consists of shots were the face takes up the entire screen, and they are singing directly into the camera. That is extremely bland cinematography.

I went to see Les Miserables 2 weeks ago and I enjoyed it.

As someone who watched the Les Miserables 10th anniversary concert on YouTube over a dozen times over the last few years, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. It wasn't without its problems though, IMO.


Sort-of spoilers:

Pros:
- Anne Hathaway as Fantine, especially "I Dreamed a Dream" (made me cry...)
- Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean (in general just a great performance acting-wise and a very good performance singing-wise)
- "Master of the House" - Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter were hilarious
- The ABC Cafe Students songs (my personal favorites from the musical), including "Red and Black", "Do You Hear the People Sing?", and "Drink With Me", were done very well
- Eddie Redmayne as Marius. I usually find Marius incredibly boring, but I was pleasantly surprised to really enjoy his performance. "Empty Chairs At Empty Tables" was amazing.
- Samantha Barks as Eponine. One of the most tragic characters in the musical IMO, and she really captured the right emotions in the film, and her singing was simultaneously beautiful and depressing (as it should be!)
- The last scene (SPOILERS - Valjean's death). Had me balling my eyes out at the end despite my knowing the ending.

Cons:
- Russell Crowe as Javert. Acting-wise he was okay, but I couldn't stand his singing voice. It was monotone the whole time.
- Cosette is still an incredibly bland character
- Barricade battle scenes were kind of underwhelming
- Related to the first one, but "Stars" (SPOILERS - Javert's suicide) was...boring. It shouldn't be boring.

So yeah. There's my two cents.

I'm a big fan of the musical.

I heard they added a new song for the film. Is this true, and if so, does it fit in nicely?

Yes, the new song fits good, IMO. Its done but the same people that did all the music for the stage show.

Am I alone in the fact that I thought Russell Crowe's singing voice was pretty awesome?

I think I am. I liked it a lot. He reminded me a little of Rivers Cuomo (the way he sang, not the actual voice). He's just getting pretty much 99.999% hate from everywhere I've seen. I may be alone in this opinion, but I thought that despite him not having the best voice in the movie, he tried his best and did it with sincerity and honesty. I personally wouldn't ask for more from an actor. That being said, his acting was much better than his singing.

I think I might go and see this film this evening if I can remember to get up there.

I liked it. I never knew that Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, and Anne Hathaway had it in them!