Film Reviews: Les Misérables

Never having seen Les Mis on stage, I didn't really know what to expect from the film, but I have to say that I really enjoyed it.   It was a big film, with lots of big scenes, big stars and lots of big songs.   I especially enjoyed Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baren Cohen as the nasty innkeepers.   They were hilarious!   Brilliant performances.   But what else could we expect from Helena Bonham Carter?   I enjoyed the little street urchin Gavroche as well.   Real talent there.   Everyone seems to have hated Russell Crowe's singing voice, but I didn't think he was that bad at all!   Not great, but passable.   There have definitely been worse!   Since watching this I've listened to the soundtrack a lot and there are so many brilliant songs in it and most of them really well performed.   My favorites were Eponine's song, On My Own, which is so beautifully sad and poignant, and Do You Hear the People Sing, which is so very stirring.   But there are loads of other good ones besides.   Some of it was a bit over-the-top melodramatic and drawn-out for me, but that's just because the original material is.   Not much the director (who by the way is Tom Hooper who directed one of my all time favorites, The King's Speech) could have done there without changing it dramatically.   And even as a smelly ragged prisoner I still found Hugh Jackman attractive!