“Les Miserables” – Film Review (*Spoilers*)

Let’s set the scene. I haven’t seen the stage show of Les Mis, but I’ve seen the 10th Anniversary and 25th Anniversary concert DVDs, as well as loads of videos on YouTube, which doesn’t equate to actually seeing it, but I had a pretty good idea of the plot and knew all of the songs very well before I went to see the film. 

I heard a lot of criticism – the amount was dwarfed by the amount of good reviews, but there was still a fair bit – of the film before I went to see it, and it got me nervous. I’d been excited for the film since it was announced at the end of the 25th Anniversary concert, and I followed all the news eagerly – casting and filming and everything about it – and I really, really hoped they’d get it right. When I saw that people weren’t impressed, my heart sank. 

The main issue people seemed to have was with the singing – so many were saying “It’ll never compare to Colm Wilkinson/Alfie Boe/Lea Salonga”, and I think they were forgetting that we are talking about the same show, but two very different mediums. In musical theatre, the voice is key, and people pay a lot of money to hear incredible voices and see incredible acting. With the film, that isn’t what I was expecting. I wanted astronomically good acting, and singing that was true to the emotions of the film, rather than – as Anne Hathaway put it, “going for the pretty version”. If I was to go and see “Les Miserables” and someone sang “Bring Him Home” in the way Hugh Jackman sang it, I’d possibly be disappointed – but if I went to see it in a film and it was sang the way Alfie Boe sang it in the Anniversary concert, I’d be equally disappointed, because in the concert it was powerful and beautiful but wouldn’t have suited the film (more on the singing later). 

Casting… would have been perfect, were it not for Russell Crowe. I mean, I don’t doubt that the man is a good actor, or at least he has his moments, but he was dire as Javert. He was the only thing letting that film down in my opinion, and I think there were plenty of other people who could have done a better job. His acting was… meh, at best, and his singing was completely devoid of any emotion. People are meant to be left crying after Javert’s Suicide, and yet behind us in the cinema a couple of people giggled when his body hit the weir with quite a thwack, because he just sang it… blandly. No emotion in it at all. The same went for “Stars”, that’s one of my favourite songs in Les Mis, and I was left completely underwhelmed by it. His singing voice isn’t fantastic, but the least he could have done was to put emotion in there – Javert is a cold, calculating character, but he isn’t a robot; he has emotions, and yet his character just had no effect on me the whole way through. 

Anne Hathaway stole the show as Fantine, she really did. She made such an impact in the short screen time she had, “I Dreamed A Dream” left me in tears because it was so beautiful. It wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t incredibly sang, but by god, it was emotional and powerful, and there was something so beautiful in the emotions she conveyed that I’d be willing to say it is the best rendition I’ve ever heard. I set a lot of store by emotions in songs, and she just blew me away. 

Amanda Seyfried and Eddie Redmayne as Cosette and Marius were great – I’ve never been huge fans of the two characters, because they both seem a little drippy – Eponine is my favourite female character, and Enjolras is so much more kick-ass than Marius, so they tend to be my favourite characters – but they were portrayed very well. Amanda Seyfried has one hell of a warble, which suited Cosette perfectly, and although at first I was a little iffy about Eddie Redmayne’s singing, “Empty Chairs at Empty Tables” had me in tears again (I cried a lot during the film, get used to it now!), because he conveyed that emotion perfectly. 

Helena Bonham-Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen… where to begin? They were incredible. Hilarious as usual, perfect as the Thenardiers, assisted by excellent costuming. “Master Of The House” was brilliant, and Baron-Cohen’s lines – calling Cosette, “Courgette” was a particular favourite of mine, and delivered perfectly – served as the comic relief we needed in the midst of all the darkness of the film (it’s a pretty grisly film in places, Gavroche’s death was quite heart-breaking!). 

Samantha Barks as Eponine… wow, wow, wow! I am so glad Taylor Swift didn’t get the part, because it wouldn’t have worked. She wouldn’t have been able to carry it off, I’m sure of it. Considering she was unknown outside of Britain – and even in Britain, she was only really known by those who followed her progress after “I’d Do Anything” (her rendition of Defying Gravity on that show made me a fan!) – she lived up to the pressure heaped on her, and then some! “On My Own” was incredible, as expected, and her acting skills really came into play during “A Heart Full Of Love” and “A Little Fall Of Rain” (the latter had me in floods of tears, that song affected me more than most of them!). 

Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean was fantastic, a great choice. Singing was fantastic in that the emotion was always there, even if people have been complaining about his less-than-perfect vocals, but again I think that’s due to their unrealistic expectations more than anything else. 

Going back to the singing, I think that having them sing it live rather than dubbing in pretty versions over the acting was a genius move, and I’m so glad they did it. People have complained that it detracted from the film, but it absolutely didn’t, in my opinion. It added to it, bringing a level of emotion that you wouldn’t have gotten with dubbed voices. Again, the only singing I had an issue with was Russell Crowe’s, because it sounded like it had been dubbed and was completely devoid of emotion! 

Everything about the film was just utterly incredible, I don’t think it left anyone with dry eyes in the cinema – I shed many tears, and even my other half – who I don’t think I’ve ever seen cry at film or television before – was reduced to tears; I think either by “Bring Him Home” or “Empty Chairs At Empty Tables”, or the end (or all three, I know they all got me big time!). An astounding, incredible piece of cinema and I would recommend it to anyone, whether you’re a fan of the musical or not.