OK. I know what you one or two readers are thinking: "Oh, here we go again."
Blogs are funny things. You start out writing and hoping that someone will read what you write, will think it's interesting, will comment, will tell others, etc., etc. Or, you write for your own enjoyment, not expecting any kind of feedback or results.
I wrote for the prior reason. However, I wasn't consistent in my writing, and I certainly didn't promote the blog. (Gee ... and nobody read it? What a surprise!)
Let's try this again and see what happens, shall we?
And let's start with a video review. Really.
I really like going to musicals. Not high school type performances, but real honest-to-goodness professionals who can sing and dance displaying their skills in a wonderfully written format. I have gone to a number of such musicals, and can attest that my favorites, in no particular order, are "Cats", "Les Miserables", and, shockingly "Mamma Mia!".
When it was announced that Les Miserables was being produced for the big screen, I was excited and hoped that it would be as good as the 10th anniversary performance DVD that stars Colm Wilkinson as Valjean, Phillip Quast as Javert, and Alun Armstrong as a fantastic Thernardier.
Then I heard the casting news: Hugh Jackman as Valjean. (Thought it would be okay with his musical background.) Anne Hathaway as Fantine. (Thought she would be great, as I heard her sing at the Oscars and was impressed.) Then, as they sing in the musical, "it all went wrong". Russell Crowe as Javert? Amanda Seyfreid as Cosette? Sasha Baron Cohen as Thenardier?
I decided to give it a chance, but never got around to seeing it in the theater, or even on dvd until this weekend. The result? I turned it off. I have vowed never to watch said dvd ever again. Yes, that's a bit dramatic in itself, but let me just jot down some issues I had with almost the entire cast. (Nina Gold is listed as being in charge of casting. Shame on you, Nina.)
Hugh Jackman disappointed me. His singing wasn't strong, and for some reason I never saw him as Valjean. Not the worst performance, but there was little power to his voice.
Anne Hathaway was great. No complaints there, but let's face it ... Fantine can't carry an entire movie.
Russell Crowe: Oh lord ... someone made a dire mistake here. I blame everyone, including the director for this miscasting. There was no force to his singing, or his character. Go back and watch Phillip Quast in the 10th anniversary show. That is how Javert should be played. That performance got the audience on their feet, appreciating that even the bad guy can be a great performer. Crowe should have been writing parking tickets for horses in violation of local ordinances.
Sasha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter: Kill me now. Sasha couldn't decide if his accent was French or English, and they were about as humorous as an impacted wisdom tooth. I was left begging for Alun Armstrong and Jenny Galloway.
Amanda Seyfried's voice reminded me of Snow White's. The vibrato and pitch made our neighbor's dog howl. (Ok ... that may be an exaggeration.)
Overall, while I was impressed with the grandeur of the film, the performances left me absolutely flat. I want to take this dvd, package it with the film version of Mamma Mia!, and drop them down a pit somewhere. They are that bad. Fortunately, I'm going to see Les Mis performed live again in June, so I'm hoping that will wash away the bad sounds still ringing in my ears. All those responsible for this film should be ashamed. They wasted a lot of time and a lot of money for a performance that was miserable in so many ways.
Fortunately, I have the other performances on CD, mp3, and DVD. I'll watch Colm Wilkinson as Valjean instead of the Bishop (which he also did well), and feel the goosebumps as the cast sings "Can You Hear the People Sing?"
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2 comments:
Did you turn it off before Eponine's bit though? When I was in high school, I had never seen/listened to Les Mis. I only knew the tunes from playing them in concert band, and I taught myself the songs using midi files on the internet. I began claiming that "On My Own" was my favorite song in the world and sang it all the time. Then, I finally downloaded a performance of that song. I...HATED it! UGH! I don't know who that was, but I HATE her voice! For once I actually preferred my own singing, which is saying a lot! Then, I saw the new movie, and I couldn't believe it: this Eponine sang this song almost exACTly the way I had always thought it should be sung! She emphasized the right parts and, oh, I was just so happy I could love the song again.
Oh, I had no problem with Eponine in the film, other than it looked as though her waist was 10 inches around. Her voice was phenomenal. It was the majority of the other voices that killed me.
On a related note, I saw the version of Les Mis at the Convention Center Theater this weekend. So much better than the movie. Every performance except for Thernardier was fantastic. (Madame Thernardier was also great.) I would watch that performance over the movie every time.
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