Les Misérables

Is It Over Yet? 

Anne Hathaway is one of the few positive takeaways from Les Mis (Courtesy of Time Entertainment)

"Why do you build me up just to let me down?"- a question I would ask Tom Hooper, director of Les Misérables (Les Mis for short). Never before have I seen such empty hype for a movie since the first Twilight film, a movie so uninspiring I didn't even bother seeing the next four installments, which I heard were equally as bleak. Awe-inspiring performances and beautiful artistic displays were the only attributes to Les Mis, an otherwise boring, uneventful display of another empty promise from the world of cinema.

The story takes place in France over three different time periods. In the first, prisoner Jean Valjean (pronounced John Valjohn, with a soft J, and played by Hugh Jackman) abandons his identity as an ex-con by ripping up his parole papers and beginning a new identity. This prompts Inspector Javert (Russell Crowe) to search for his former prisoner to force him to serve the remainder of his sentence.

Eight years later, Valjean is mayor of a town where a poor woman named Fantine (Anne Hathaway) works to feed her daughter, Cosette. Upon the revelation that Fantine is an unwed mother, she is dismissed from her job. Valjean encounters her and promises to care for Cosette. He finds the young girl, abandons his position as mayor, and begins yet another life. 

Nine years later, Cosette (Amanda Seyfried) meets Marius (Eddie Redmayne), a young French Revolutionist. Most of this third part is centered around a battle between the townsfolk, armed with rifles and barricaded by broken furniture, and virtually the entire French Army. Marius resolves to survive the battle to be reunited with his newfound love, Cosette. I won't ruin the ending of this film, but I will say it was very graceful. The finale was the best scene in the movie, but was nowhere near good enough to reconcile for the two-and-a-half hour mess that was Les Mis. 

I must give credit where credit is due. Aside from Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter (both of whom make me cringe when they show up on a screen), Les Mis was a spectacle of acting at its best. Anne Hathaway gave the most moving performance of her career in less than an hour of screen time. Amanda Seyfried is continuously growing out of the Karen Smith persona from Mean Girls, and I cannot wait to see how successful she will be in the continuing future. Film newcomers Isabelle Allen and Daniel Huttlestone gave perhaps two of the most uplifting performances I saw this year, as the adorable and confident younger Cosette and a street-smart lovable street urchin, respectively. Russell Crowe, Hugh Jackman and Eddie Redmayne also give solid performances, though Jackman didn't wow me as much as I hoped he would have.

Over a course of 150 minutes, the movie charged on, leaving me indifferent and uninterested by introducing countless new characters without giving many their due developments. If I didn't want to write an informed review, I would've walked out of the theater, a first for me. Whereas recent releases like Argo and Lincoln were able to improve on their first part with a rousing second, Les Mis couldn't duplicate this necessary action.

Furthermore, the movie was basically a two-and-a-half hour music video. I mean, is it necessary to sing everything? And when I say everything, I mean everything. If I said 2% of the dialogue was spoken, not sung, I may be giving too much recognition to the spoken word. The voices weren't terrible (Seyfried's is rather good), but they got really old really fast. 

The art in this movie is astonishing. If the script and direction were as impressive as the set pieces and costume design, we might've had a five star movie on our hands. But sadly, Hooper wasn't able to direct this successful musical hit onto the screen very effectively. Award-worthy performances and production design weren't enough to save the massive disappointment that is Les Misérables. The rating I'm giving this movie is generous, and am only giving it this score to reward the talented cast members for their efforts. However, I'd be lying if I say I recommend this movie.

Rating: 2.5/5