A Case for Les Misérables

I am an unabshed fan of this musical.  That needs to be stated upfront.  I saw it for the first (and really only) time when I was 8 years old.  The Monday night before my family went to see it, we sat around our old CD player as my father told the story and we listened to all the most important songs; though we skipped Lovely Ladies (and the thus the subsequent explanation of what that song is about) and Master of the House.  I don't really remember actually watching the play at Raleigh Memorial Auditorium.  I'm pretty sure I fell asleep.  It doesn't matter though.  Since that night I have listened to the original Broadway cast soundtrack over and over and over.  I've memorized every song and on the right tracks I belt it out along with Colm and Terrance.   So when I heard they were making a movie I was excited (read: extremely upset someone beat me to it) and after seeing the film the for the first time in theaters, I, like many people, was disappointed to a certain degree.  I felt like there were moments that were good and some that were great, but I had problems with the directing (so many close-ups!) and the performances (Wolervine stop being so nasally!).  I still felt, however, that the central messages were there and as a religious person it is refreshing to see those make it ever-so-rarely into big studio films.  I told people, "I liked it, didn't love it."
   But see, I have a problem.  I buy movies.  Too much.  And so when this one was coming out I thought, why not?  And I bought it.  My lovely wife had not seen the movie yet, so on another Monday evening some 19 years after my parents sat me and my siblings down, my wife and I sat with our daughter and watched.  And you know what?  I love this movie.  I love the music.  I love the messages and I love the performances.  It was great.  Wonderful.  Beautiful and moving.  I found myself forgetting (maybe just forgiving) some of its flaws.  Problems I had melted away.  I will get to my theory on why a little later, but first here are the things I love about the movie (and musical) in no particular order (there may be some spoilers):

THE MESSAGE
Hollywood loves a good revenge story and, truth be told, I do too.  The day I proposed to my wife I saw Taken in theaters and it was a revelation.  There is somthing cathartic about seeing people who deserve to go down get their due.  But Les Miserables is a story about forgiveness.  A much harder act both to perform and to portray in a film.  The character of Javert is the antagonist, but he's not a bad guy.  He's trying to do what he feels is right.  He believes in law and justice.  Of course it's ridiculous that he's hunting down a man who broke parole over stealing a loaf of bread, but that's the point.  Javert is the Old Testament law coming into conflict with Jean Valjean, an embodiment of New Testament compassion.  He represents what Javert cannot fathom - reformation and change.  It's heartbreaking, then, when Javert does the only thing he can think to do to make amends for a lifetime of misguided justice.  The ending of this film is sublime to me.  It's didactic for sure, but a message like this often is.  Faulting a film like this one for being didactic though is a bit like going to Church and complaining that it's too preachy.

DREAMING DREAMS
I just want to say that even from the first trailer I've defended Anne Hathaway's performance.  Singing live during the filming was a risk and I think it paid off more often than not.  When Fantine begins to sing "I Dreamed a Dream" you see the physical toll her choices and situation have brought down upon her.  My heart breaks every time I hear her choke out the words, "I dreamed that God would be forgiving."  I've heard plenty of criticism of Ms. Hathaway's perfomance and subsequent Oscar win, but that scene alone was worth the price of admission for me.  I never loved the song "Lovely Ladies," because I thought it took a serious situation and made a joke out of it.  This rendition, tied to the subsequent aria, made the song have relevance and context.  It was no longer a joke, but a sad story of a fallen woman.

VIVE LA CROWE!
This will probably get me into trouble, but I loved Russell Crowe as Javert.  His voice is gravelly and he doesn't have the gravitas of many of the stage performers who have played the role, but I think he was great.  People have told me they felt like he seemed too nice in the film and when he was supposed to be menacing, he just came across like a teddy bear.  Maybe I've watched Gladiator enough times to see he can mean business, or maybe I just like the fact that he played the role with some compassion to it.  Javert has always been my favorite character because he sticks so doggedly to his beliefs, but ultimately does the right thing.  A tear comes to my eye every time he pins his medal to the body of little Gavroche.  My wife turned to me at this point and said, "Best scene of the movie."  It was a little touch that helps round out a character that easily could have been very flat.  For those who think Russell Crowe was a bad choice because he can't sing, go back and watch the film.  His pitch is pretty good, even if he still lacks some of the showmanship of a professional singer.  It helps that I love the character so much, but I'll defend Russell anytime.

HOME VIEWING
My last thought is one that might be a bit of a stretch, but...well here it goes.  After finishing watching the film from the comfort of my couch, with a few interruption for ice cream and putting babies to sleep, I thought, "Wow.  That was so good."  For some reason the extreme amount of extreme close-ups didn't bother me.  The performances felt stronger.  Hugh Jackman's high notes...well those still bothered me, but not nearly as much.  And then as I got ready for bed I came up with a theory, and hear me out on this one.  I think home video is closer to theatre than going to the movies at the cineplex.  Think about it.  Theatre is live, it's organic and it's intimate.  Broadway theatres are smaller than you would think and you really feel like you're part of the show.  Sitting on my couch, with my wife close by, felt more like going to a play than watching a movie and I think that improved the experience and also the film as a whole for me.

Now this film, like any, is not without its flaws, but for me it's pretty great.  I would say that if you've seen the film and didn't like or it, or liked it but didn't love it, give it another try on DVD or Blu-Ray.  Maybe you'll find more to like.  Maybe you won't.  I'm not making any promises.