Les Miserables

Les Miserables (2012)
Directed by: Tom Hooper
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 70%

Let me preface this review by saying that I knew almost nothing about Les Miserables when I walked into the theater. I had seen the 1998 version starring Liam Neeson but I didn't remember anything about it. So, keep that in mind.

Months before Les Miserables was set to open in theaters I had seen a behind the scenes look at the making of the movie while I waited for another movie to start. The feature showed how the actors sang their numbers live as they heard music in hidden monitors. Hugh Jackman (who plays Jean Valjean) explains that he could sing a song one way and then come back and do it completely different if he felt led to do so. This was such an incredible revelation to me. Typically when a musical is filmed, the cast records their songs in a studio and then they come back and mime their parts. Singing and recording the pieces live allows the actors...to act. They can get lost in the moment and, in turn, so can the audience. I was so excited that I told everyone I could about it. I convinced Katie and it was added to our Christmas Day agenda. Come Christmas we got started a little later than we had liked and we weren't able to see it that day however it didn't take long for us to make up for it. We went a few days later.

Les Miserables is a story about redemption. Jean Valjean is serving the end of a prison sentence at the beginning of the film. He is under the watch of a man named Javert (Russell Crowe). When Valjean is released, Javert makes sure that Valjean knows that he will be undesirable company. He is an ex convict and is therefore damned to be an outcast. It is then when the audience is told that Valjean is in prison because he stole bread and tried to escape from the jail he was being kept in. Valjean makes his way through the city and eventually to a church where he is taken in by a priest. He is fed and then promptly robs them. When Valjean is captured and taken back to the church, the priest insists that the items Valjean stole were, in fact, gifts that he was given in order to get him on his feet. After being moved by the gratitude of the priest, Valjean swears to live a better life at the expense of losing his identity. Years pass and Valjean is now living as a wealthy businessman. Fantine (Anne Hathaway) is under his employ but she is released when it is discovered that she has an illegitimate daughter, Cosette. Fantine is forced into a life of prostitution in order to provide for her and her daughter. I will stop my summary here because if I explain the whole plot then what fun would seeing the movie be!?

With Les Miserables being a musical of course the best parts are seeing the actors perform as if they are on a stage. The number where the Thenardiers (Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter) reveal how they rob their inn guests is truly amazing to watch. However, arguably the most moving part of the entire film is Anne Hathaway singing "I Dreamed A Dream".




I was in tears seeing what Fantine had to go through in order to provide for herself and Cosette. I have never felt so moved in a movie before. It is worth seeing this just to see Hathaway sing this.

No BS

Les Miserables is a wonderfully done musical. The costumes, sets, and props feel authentic. I am positive there will be an Oscar nom for art direction, costume design, and obviously for the music. At 158 minutes (2 hrs 38 minutes) this is a long movie but you don't realize it unless you are not captivated by what you are watching. If you are not into musicals then definitely don't see it because you will be alienated. If period films aren't your thing (they aren't mine) then you might want to rethink seeing it. However, as I stated above, Les Mis is worth seeing just to see Anne Hathaway sing "I Dreamed A Dream".
My Score: 8/10