Review of Les Misérables (2012) by Bijan E — 31 May 2014

The cast commits itself very well but the music lets itself down in a way that unforgivably renders all the main numbers lifeless. You see, the singing in Les Miserables never stops. Even face to face conversations between the characters must be belted in a vocal face-off. This cheapens any emotion and makes the film laughable when it's trying to be dramatic. When the music never stops, the entire production becomes too overwhelming and the actual performances bleed together until nothing notable remains. A good musical should reserve the vocal and orchestral energy for the main songs that everyone will want to remember. Les Miserables seems to think that if it drowns us in the waters of its performances then we will eventually become attatched to them. No such luck, I'm afraid.

As soon as you hear Russel Crowe open his mouth in the first scene, you'll be excusing yourself to go to the bathroom every 15 minutes.