I finally screwed up my courage and sat through this on Sunday. I thought the director did a very good job of pacing this dark and gloomy tale. But only Anne Hathaway could truly sing it, and her acting was touching and believable. She deserved her Academy Award. The rest of the cast was pretty miserable, vocally. I suppose Hugh Jackman has yelled himself out of a once truly nice Broadway lyric baritone. "Bring him home," was full or rocky moments, vocally, and he resorted to yelling without a floating lyric line, necessary for this difficult-to-sing role. Besides, asForbidden Broadway waggishly lampooned the song, "it's too high," for his lower-centered voice.
Russell Crowe was a dour Jauvert and his singing was unpleasantly one-dimensional. Samantha Barks' Eponine was sincere, but the singing was uneven. Amanda Seyfried's Cosette twittered in a high, squeaky, unsupported soprano that was unpleasant to listen to. Eddie Redmayne as Marius, sang well enough, but lacked charisma in close-ups. Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen mostly spoke their song lyrics, and "Master of the House" passed by without any impact at all.
Whoever was responsible for the musical side of things on this picture, was undone by camera-ready stars with inadequate voices. This is a sung-through musical, with dialog that requires expressive singing, near operatic singing. Only Marius's doomed revolutionaries had the necessary vocal thrust for their parts.
The reason the movie musical is an endangered species--oh hell, the genre is as dead as a western--is that movie studios put musical matters in the hands of people who don't trust the music to make its affect. The composers of LES MISERABLES intended for this score to be sung by professional singing actors. They had enough star power with Jackman and Hathaway. It didn't need mediocre singing to undermine one's enjoyment.
Russell Crowe was a dour Jauvert and his singing was unpleasantly one-dimensional. Samantha Barks' Eponine was sincere, but the singing was uneven. Amanda Seyfried's Cosette twittered in a high, squeaky, unsupported soprano that was unpleasant to listen to. Eddie Redmayne as Marius, sang well enough, but lacked charisma in close-ups. Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen mostly spoke their song lyrics, and "Master of the House" passed by without any impact at all.
Whoever was responsible for the musical side of things on this picture, was undone by camera-ready stars with inadequate voices. This is a sung-through musical, with dialog that requires expressive singing, near operatic singing. Only Marius's doomed revolutionaries had the necessary vocal thrust for their parts.
The reason the movie musical is an endangered species--oh hell, the genre is as dead as a western--is that movie studios put musical matters in the hands of people who don't trust the music to make its affect. The composers of LES MISERABLES intended for this score to be sung by professional singing actors. They had enough star power with Jackman and Hathaway. It didn't need mediocre singing to undermine one's enjoyment.