This past weekend I finally made it to see Les Mis, I know, I had to wait 5 whole days! It was torture. When the movie was originally announced I figured I would be going by myself. No one locally shares my love of Les Mis, try as I might but Nancy and Kim wanted to watch it also so that made it more of a fun outing.
The showing we planned on watching was 70% sold out and the seating was bad so we went with a later show and stood in line with others, gabbing, eating popcorn and drinking root beer. All a part of the experience.
I brought tissues for everyone to use, just in case, even though I'm not a big crier in movies. Nancy, I expected her to be a snot rag. Watching movies with Nancy is a 3D experience. She jumped so high in one scene she spilled popcorn all over me, inside my purse and all over the walkway. Imagine her at a scary move.
I've read a lot of the reviews, you already know I'm a huge fan of the show, specifically the 25th anniversary edition. That could either work for the movie, or against. I see a lot of fans comparing the characters to the musical version (and I admit, I will be doing that on at least one character) but I can look at the movie as a separate entity. It's how I am when books I love are made into movies. I know there is no way the movie is going to be better then the book (other then LOTR books, I liked the movies more) so I accept that and move on.
There was a lot of talk about them live singing. While I love the idea of it, I've heard these songs so many times I was a little hesitant to hear other versions of it but the live singing really made me feel the moment. I know some people complained about picking singers over actors but for this, it really worked. Theses actors made me feel their emotions, their joy, their love, their pain.
Eddie Redmayne as Marius was a stand out to me. I love Anne and Hugh but I was already expecting them to be great. I'd never seen Eddie in anything and the preview trailer didn't really make me feel him but as soon as he hit the screen (Nancy perked up immediately, she commented right away about how good looking he was) he lit it up and when he sang Empty Chairs at Empty Tables that was the first time the song really moved me, I was teary eyed from it. Not only did he sing it beautifully, I felt his guilt and pain and it was an emotional highlight of the movie for me.
That being said, my one disappointment was Aaron Tveit as Enjolras. I thought his singing was great but he didn't have the charisma and stage presence that the character of Enjolras should have. Ramin Karimloo has that in spades on the 25th Anniversary Edition but it's a minor quibble.
As far as complaints about Russell Crowe and Amanda Seyfried, I thought they did great. Some people thought that their singing was lacking but I didn't feel that way at all. While Russell doesn't have a polished voice, he does have a strong voice and that pretty much describes Javert.
I'd also like to give a shout out to Daniel Huttlestone as Gavroche, what a scene stealer. I was sad that the Gavroche from the 25th Anniversary edition was too old to play him since I loved him but Daniel is a star.
As far as the movie itself, I enjoyed it a lot. It was beautifully shot and felt the movie enhanced the songs because it helped to convey the storyline more. I teared up several times and at the end while I didn't cry, my throat hurt from trying to keep from crying. I was sniffling up a storm (as was the rest of the theater). While this is a long movie 2 hours and 45 minutes or so, it went by fast (at least for me). I'm sure you can tell, I loved the movie and I want to see it again. Nancy and Kim, both relative novices to Les Mis, enjoyed the movie. Will they gush like I did? Probably not yet Nancy finds herself humming the songs all of the time now.
The best part, thanks to Banana Republic we all got to see the movie for free and I still have one ticket left, woo hoo!
