Les Miserables

[indygphib]

Saw Les Mis last night. My take:
As much groaning and eyerolling I did at Anne Hathaway's version of I Dreamed a Dream from the movie trailer, I figured out that the reason why I didn't like it: the first part of the song is a little low for her vocal range - she did WAY better with the higher notes. Anything she sung after the first half of the song sounded fantastic. Solid performance.

Hugh Jackman made a good Valjean. Definitely not the best I have seen, but he held his own. Can't say the same for Russell Crowe. His voice was WAY too thin to handle Javert.

Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter actually weren't bad as the Thenardiers. They did a lot better than I expected, but I didn't have high expectations for them in the first place.

They did the right thing by casting stage actors for Enjolras, Marius, and Eponine for the movie. Marius sounded great but he looked like Howdy Doody and I couldn't get over all the spackle they put on his face in an attempt to cover his freckles. The guy who played Enjolras should have been cast as Marius. The girl who played Eponine did the role some justice. Eponine is always a crapshoot: she's either played well as the streetwise kid or she comes off as a whiner and you're glad she gets a cap busted in her at the barricade. Fortunately the movie casting was the former.

Speaking of Eponine, I was BEYOND PISSED that they cut her part from the finale. Note to Hollywood: the part of the ending before the company starts singing is sung by Eponine, Fantine, and Valjean and not just Fantine and Valjean only. That actually ruined the movie for me.