I may have gone into it with overly high expectations, but I was a little disappointed. Parts of it were thrilling and gave me chills, but I felt it could have been so much more, particularly the singing from Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe.
I saw it yesterday and I agree that a lot of the singing could have been much better. OTOH, I thought it was very well acted and overall a great movie. Anne Hathaway was wonderful, she really surprised me. I did NOT love Sacha Baron Cohen as much as I expected. Russell Crowe was definitely a low point but to be honest I've always thought Javert's songs were kind of boring.
When I got home I rented the 25th anniversary concert.
It was amazing. I would not call Russell Crowe a low point by any means. His Javert was believable, and while his voice is not like a Norm Lewis, it was appropriate for the movie.
I saw it. Anne Hathaway and the actress who played Eponine were wonderful. I really didn't like Russel Crowe or Hugh Jackman's singing. There was a note at one point that made me actually wince in the theater. Overall, I wasn't a fan. I'll take the Broadway version any day.
I thought it was great! I haven't seen the Broadway version but I saw a national tour about 10 years ago and maybe it's just a faded memory, but I think I like the movie better. Or I had bad seats at the live version I loved how I could see the actors' faces up close and I love that they didn't seem to cut and splice it the way they do with most movie musicals (but again, it could be faded memory).
I thought most of the casting was fantastic actually. I was so-so about Amanda Seyfried but otherwise thought everyone did a great job. I agree there were a few off notes here and there but the good acting made up for it IMO.
Eh... Although there were wonderful moments I was disappointed with pretty much everything. Too self-aware performances/direction and RC was horribly cast. Loved Marius. Hugh Jackman was particularly disappointing (voice wise).
I had never seen it or read the book, so I went in not knowing anything about it. I thought Anne did a great job and was sad to find that she wasn't in more of the movie!
But I really didn't care for Wolverine's singing. At all. He's a great actor, but his songs sounded so forced and I cringed every time he opened his mouth. I didn't think Russell Crowe was bad, but Amanda Seyfried was annoying.
I loved it. Never saw it any other way, though. DH has seen every version and enjoyed it, too. Why was Amanda Seyfried so annoying? I thought her part/character were so minor she didn't bother me. I think Marius was kind of lackluster, as was Eponine.
Oh my gosh. I thought Amanda Seyfried's voice was so freaking annoying. Marius sounded like Kermit.
I thought Eponine was amazing. I was so amazed how close her singing was to the London cast, and then I found out it was the same person who sang in both, lol.
I thought Anne Hathaway was amazing and I normally cannot stand her. I did not mind Russell Crowe. Like PP said, I wish there had been less singing dialogue. The part I liked the least was Marius' voice. I can't believe he was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild award.
We are between Les Mis and Django Unchained for our date night Saturday. I think y'all have talked me into Django. I was nervous about Amanda Seyfried and I really don't care for Cosette to begin with. We may wait on the DVD of this one.
Amanda's trilly, nasally voice was really irritating to me. And Marius...he wasn't even cute.
This. I thought that actor looked kind of dorky...lol. I usually like Amanda but her voice was so dang high all of the time. I couldn't understand a thing. I loved the revolution parts, especially with the little boy. Casting of Borat and Helena Bonham Carter were great. The actress playing Eponine was really good.
I thought Anne Hathaway was amazing and I normally cannot stand her. I did not mind Russell Crowe. Like PP said, I wish there had been less singing dialogue. The part I liked the least was Marius' voice. I can't believe he was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild award. [/quote
I expected the "talk singing" but I know the show really well and heard it was basically the full libretto as a film.
Amanda was annoying and very snow whitey. Russell Crow sucked. Overall though, it was awesome, IMO. Looove that' show.
I tried not to let the hype get to me. Everybody loved it and cried, blah, blah, blah. I was underwhelmed. My biggest problem was the way it was filmed. I didn't care for all the close ups. Doing it every now and then is one thing -- doing it all the time in this film was just a BAD choice.
Not only did Russell Crowe gave me nothing. No emotion. Nothing. I could have dealt with the not up to par singing had there been some type of feeling. Hugh Jackman came and went for me. More nasal than I thought. He acted it well but he came and went with some of his songs.
Amanda wanted to drive me to drink but Cosette is a very thankless role and it is usally played exactly like this all the time. I really enjoyed Eponine was wonderful. I am so glad a legit singer and actress got to play this in the movie!
I don't want to keep nit-picking but I think the movie could have been a lot better. That being said, I am glad I saw it.
Not only did Russell Crowe gave me nothing. No emotion. Nothing. I could have dealt with the not up to par singing had there been some type of feeling. Hugh Jackman came and went for me. More nasal than I thought. He acted it well but he came and went with some of his songs.
Amanda wanted to drive me to drink but Cosette is a very thankless role and it is usally played exactly like this all the time. I really enjoyed Eponine was wonderful. I am so glad a legit singer and actress got to play this in the movie!
I don't want to keep nit-picking but I think the movie could have been a lot better. That being said, I am glad I saw it.
I agree with this. I'm glad I expected Russel Crowe to completely suck. He actually wasn't as bad as I expected.
I was sad about Hugh Jackman. I blame the director for his nasally voice because he did not sound like that in Oklahoma.
Overall, I didn't mind that singing wasn't so powerful because of the visuals and the acting.
Post by wanderlustmom on Jan 3, 2013 0:06:48 GMT -5
I loved it! I actually thought Eponine was the best and Marius a close second. Empty chairs at Empty Tables was a major cry fest for me. And Ann Hathoway nailed her role.
I loved the close ups and the one cuts, I agree, some of the songs were off a bit, but it made for more emotion. Plus I love the story so that made it harder for me to be critical. I thought Hugh Jackman acted well and his singing was just so so and I never liked Javerts songs that much anyway. Loved the Revolution songs. I cried a whole lot. To me the theme of redemption is so emotional, sure it's why I'm a therapist.
Post by wanderlustmom on Jan 3, 2013 0:08:50 GMT -5
also I agree with the PP who wrote that's how Cosette is drawn, I really don't see how Amanda could have changed her and I thought her singing was fine. She and Marius had real chemistry, INMO.
I think what bothered me the most is the secondary players, like Enjolras, the other revolutionaries, shoot, even the whores, were better singers than much of the main cast. Samantha Barks killed it as Eponine. I had forgotten that Taylor Swift was in consideration at one point - that would have been pure tragedy.
I loved Hugh Jackman's acting, but the singing was...strained. And reedy. I expected more. When I'm listening to "Bring Him Home", my heart should be melting with the beauty of his tenor prayer. Not wonder, "Eeerrrh, is he going to make that high note??"
I liked it, but didn't love it as I expected to. Perhaps there was just so much hype surrounding it, but I didn't get the same feelings as the five times I've seen it on stage. It felt long and slow at times - there could have been some scenes cut to make it flow better. Also, why did they fell the need to write a new song and make things even longer than they needed to be?
Anne Hathaway was amazing, enough said. I will be shocked if she doesn't win an Oscar.
Hugh Jackman is a great actor, but I didn't care for his singing at all. He was really nasally and pitchy at times, and "Bring Him Home" was hard to listen to without cringing.
Eponine absolutely killed it on "On My Own." I appreciate that they hired actual stage actors who can sing to play some of the main roles.
I agree the new song was unnecessary. Supposedly it was to show off Jackman's voice and was composed with his abilities in mind, but it wasn't his most impressive song in the movie and was forgettable. I think he did a great job overall though, I wasn't surprised that they had him sing "Bring Him Home" at a lower pitch.
I enjoyed the movie. The singing wasn't as good as the stage shows, but you could see a lot more emotion coming through.