Les... Meh

I was going to write a full review on my opinion of the new film adaptation of Les Miserables, but Mick LaSalle at the San Fransisco Chronicle has put it perfectly. Check out his very well-written review.

But you know me, I always have more to say.

Aesthetically, Les Miserables was a beautiful movie. The imagery was lovely and they told the story well - however - the magic of the stage version was not there.

In musical theater, we are living in a "heightened reality." There is a suspension of disbelief, and a sense of immense urgency. Nothing happening onstage is casual, if someone sings a song, then it is because they have something so important to say, they must say it right now. And the only way to fully express themselves is through song.

Particularly in Les Mis, many of the big numbers are solo and introspective. The live audience acts as the other end of the conversation, which allows the song to propel the story forward. In the Les Mis movie, we see our characters singing to themselves in close up. They appear to just be feeling bad for themselves.

Three hours of watching people cry does not allow me, as an audience member, to feel included in the story. Instead, I just don't care. Watching characters "have a lot of feelings" isn't interesting.

Furthermore, Les Miserables is a musical. Much of the haunting nature of the story is told through the beautiful music. The actors chosen to portray these classic musical theater characters could not do the music justice. None of them had the vocal technique to sing these songs fully as they were intended. There were some absolutely abhorrent vocal issues. (Why does Eddie Redmayne need to shake his entire head to create vibrato? Where was his vocal coach?)

This is a sad day for musical theater. The film was indulgent, actors focusing on feeling and not including the audience. It was boring and poorly sung.

....but not quite as bad as the Phantom of the Opera movie. Victory?