Being a huge fan of the musical I had been looking forward to this movie quite a lot and subsequently had very high expectations.
My personal highlight was of course Anne Hathaway's performance, it was an epiphany. She protrays the downwards spiral of "Fantine" perfectly and while many considered her rendering of "I dreamt a dream" weak, I found it brilliant, as it fits her situation exactly. You cannot expect a woman that has literally hit bottom in life to have a powerful and strong voice, instead of a broken voice that resembles a painful cry. To me she was "Fantine".
A very positive surprise to me was Aaron Tveit as "Enjolras". His performance was gripping and he was convincing as the charismatic leader of the rebelling students. I think we should watch out for him as he is a star in the making!
Russell Crowes acting as "Inspector Javert" was superb, unfortunately his singing couldn't keep up with his performance. While he did ok with the softer notes, he reached his limits with the louder notes quickly.
Regarding Hugh Jackman as "Valjean" it is quite difficult to judge properly. His acting was excellent and he has a great singing voice, but in my honest opinion he just didn't fit in the role. I know typecasting is a nasty thing but somtimes the right type in a certain role is important. This is very obvious in the scene with the "bishop" who is played by Colm Wilkinson the original "Valjean". In any case this is more like personal taste and I admit that Hugh Jackman did a great job!
The structure of the movie follows the musical closely and the small changes made were fitting. There wasn't the feeling of alien scenes even knowing the musical quite well, which in a way was comforting.
The musical itself is well known and I won't comment any further on it. Just for those who haven't seen/heard it yet: The story is captivating and has everything in it love, obsession, crime, action and interesting characters.
Something I really liked was the fact that the singing wasn't recorded in the studio but while filming. This gave the movie a touch of reality despite it being a musical.
Despite some casting choices that might have not been ideal "Les Miserables" is a great movie adaptation of what is one of the best musicals of the last 30 years.
Points 7/10
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