Les Misérables

this movie messes with me because it’s not very good, it’s a terrible adaptation of my favorite musical, and it’s also my beloved comfort film apparently. like no joke i was in bed sweating out a fever and the only movie i even remotely wanted to see was les miserables 2012. and like. i don’t want this to just be bandwagon hate on tom hooper and russell crowe (the two most obvious offenders) but truly i just don’t think this movie functions very well as like… a movie? les mis is a pretty tough musical to move directly to film mostly because it follows a very particular plot structure and because it’s meant to be completely sung through and i do think that it’s a passable version of the story. especially because les mis somehow still doesn’t have a pro shot (??) it’s a convenient way to immerse yourself in this story, with much worse singing than the anniversary concerts but some truly impressive set pieces and a couple good visuals. the pacing is a disaster tho. and tbf most of that is just carried over directly from the show but that’s just a testament to how different stage and screen are. a lot of things that work on stage just do not work here. the transition between  heart full of love and on my own is just goofy i’m sorry. also jackman didn’t get enough lashings for this movie honestly. like sorry! he just isnt quite there. like in the sense of he’s not hitting the right notes at the right time and it’s distracting. russell crowe is horrific. like i could maybe look past it if he gave an exceptional emotional performance (anne hathaway) but he completely fails on both fronts. stars is one of my favorite songs and javert is one of my favorite characters in musical theater canon and it just falls so flat here. fuck you russell crowe. but honestly most of the younger actors do pretty well for themselves. obviously samantha kills it but i’ve also come around to amanda as cosette. like there were certainly some choices made but generally she does really well. i generally prefer a stronger voice for cosettes songs but that snow white head voice thing she’s doing works for her version of the character. in regards to movie musicals i’m generally in favor of sacrificing technically perfect performances for character acting in small doses, and i think samantha proves pretty soundly that you can do both. however… hugh jackman fully dropping certain iconic belts to whisper-speak them pisses me off. but like. i don’t know. i used to watch this movie multiple times a week because i had it downloaded and had no data and i formed this weird attachment to it where i think it’s truly awful and i don’t really like it but i do crave it sometimes. the last time i watched this movie i was in high school but i still have parts of it memorized. and i’ve never touched the soundtrack but somehow i know every pause and inflection in eponines errand. i’m generally okay with liking bad movies but i really don’t know why i can’t wrap my head around this specific movie. also not for nothing les mis does just kinda get to me no matter how shitty it is. and the last shot of their dream, the entire city behind the barricade daring to fight for the life they long for… i’m sorry! i can’t help it! i cried