Last night I finally allowed myself time away from college work to relax and watch multi-award winning Les Miserables. I've been beyond excited to see this film since it was released, and therefore cannot even begin to describe my sheer disappointment at the resulting 2 and a half hours of boredom.
The plot was okay, but each individual plot line seemed to be over in minutes leaving you feeling greatly underwhelmed at each "climax".
For example, the Fantine plot, although heart-rendering, lasted all of 5 minutes; she went from happily singing in the factory to being thrown out of a job, resorting to prostitution, and selling her hair. The 'I Dreamed A Dream' rendition was brilliant, but not worthy of Best Supporting Actress. I didn't really get it.
And then she died.
Since when was she ill?!
But okay, moving on. I was then exposed to numerous laboured sing-offs between Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe. I can't quite work out who was worse vocally, but they were both pretty terrible. I appreciate that the actors were required to sing live when recording to convey an accurate sense of emotion, but it didn't pay off. I didn't feel any emotion. Apart from my own despair at the monotony.
Ignoring their singing, Russell Crowe was definitely the 'boo-hiss' villain of the plot; his character Javert holds a personal vendetta against Valjean, an 'on-the-run' slave.It's obvious from the start he recognises the Foreman as a dressed up Valjean, so why doesn't he do anything?
It's one of two things: either he is actually a good guy and recognises the good Valjean is doing for the town he is Mayor of; or he just cannot be arsed with the effort. I'm undecided. I know I didn't like Javert, so maybe that's why it's so difficult for me to accept he could see the error of his ways. I was just glad when he put us all out of misery and jumped off the bridge.
If Crowe was the traditional villain, Jackman was very much the hero of the tale. A fallen man elevated to great responsibility and power, with the ability to repress temptation to return to his thieving ways: it's almost too Shakespearian. I actually did enjoy the character development of Valjean, especially accepting the ultimate responsibility and adopting orphan Cosette after Fantine's death, and I do rate Hugh Jackman as an actor, but feel I would have connected more to Valjean as a character, and the plot as a whole, with less singing.
Valjean's commendable actions concerning Cosette did allow the audience the only truly enjoyable scenes of the whole film: Cosette's guardians, played by the breathtaking Helena Bonham Carter and (an unusual choice I thought) Sacha Baron Cohen, provide brilliant comic relief in the tragic tale of Les Mis. Their plotting and scheming, and the general upbeat tone of music actually made me put down my phone, stop scrolling Twitter and Instagram, and pay full attention to the film. Unfortunately, these scenes were brief, however.
Aside from the music, it was a recommendable film. Maybe. But that defeats the object, as Les Mis is famous for being a musical. Despite the boredom I faced watching it, I still cried. Which, if you know me, isn't as shocking as it sounds. I cry at everything. So, if you can cope with 2 and a half hours of dulcet tones, you will enjoy the film, because the plot is decent. But, if like me, you switch off after the first 2 minutes of Hugh Jackman's voice, don't bother.
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