The Greatest Showman is a musical biopic of Phineas T. Barnum, telling the story of his life from the son of a penniless tailor to becoming the founder of one of the most famous circuses in the world.
Hugh Jackman gives a charismatic and likeable performance as Barnum. He's a chancer, a huckster with a silver tongue, who can talk the talk- but also back it up. They way he talks people round to his way of thinking is impressive. A man desperate for the approval and acceptance he never had before, there's an interesting contradiction lying at Barnum's core which the film doesn't always explore well enough (which is down to the script). Another interesting part is his willingness to exploit the 'otherness' of his charges; when he recruits Tom Thumb, the young man accuses Barnum of wanting to get people to laugh at him. Barnum's response: 'they're laughing anyway, kid, so you might as well get paid'. Whilst this may be true, it comes across as a little callous. But even with this, with a winning smile and a twinkle in his eye, Jackman is never less than magnetic in the lead role.
Michelle Williams is underused as Barnum's devoted and incredibly patient wife Charity, but she's good when she's given something to do. Zac Efron gets a strong arc as playwright Phillip Carlyle (a composite character of several people in Barnum's life, including business partner James Bailey), a man of privilege and wealth who goes against convention by running off to join the circus. He has his head turned by trapeze artist Anne Wheeler, but issues of status and race (Anne is mixed-race, whilst Philip is white) mean the path of true love doesn't run that smoothly. Zendaya plays Anne with a spark of intensity which is great to see.
There's a nice supporting turn from Rebecca Ferguson as Swedish opera singer Jenny Lind, who provides Barnum with a shot at legitimacy in society, but who proves to be more complicated than first expected. Keala Settle provides heart and poignancy as bearded lady Lettie, who Barnum finds working in a laundry and eventually puts on stage. Finally, Paul Sparks gives a nice edge of antagonism to his role as newspaper critic James Gordon Bennett, who clashes with Barnum on several occasions; Bennett sees Barnum's show as nothing more than low entertainment, even using the phrase 'circus' to describe it (which Barnum leaps on and appropriates).
This is Michael Gracey's feature film directorial debut and he shows some real artistic flair. The production design of the film is really good and there are some really nice visual flourishes and some really good choreography, such as in 'The Other Side', the bar-room duet between Barnum and Phillip where Barnum tries to get him to come on board (where shots are poured and drank in between dancing on the bar). Jenny Bicks' and Bill Condon's script is perhaps the weakest part of the entire endeavour. It follows the usual rags-to-riches biopic formula but, crucially, even if events really did unfold as they do in the film, the story feels contrived: there's an unexpected romantic subplot which comes as Barnum grows further away from his family; there's the expected moment where he loses everything but that's not the end of the world. It feels very standard, by-the-numbers, which is a shame.
The songs are written by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, who wrote the songs for La La Land. Just as in that film, the songs range from the perfectly serviceable to the instantly forgettable, along with a couple of absolute stormers, such as Phillip and Anna's highwire love duet 'Rewrite The Stars' and- the song which has got the most attention from the film- 'This Is Me', which is destined to become a modern classic. A defiant, poignant, powerful statement of intent delivered with gusto and vulnerability by Keala Settle, I found myself unexpectedly moved by the performance and wanting to stand and applaud at the end of the number.
All said, this was a light, fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon. It's pure popcorn fodder and a lovely way to while away a few hours.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Tez
Disney's 1991 animated version of the classic French fairytale Beauty And The Beast is widely considered to be one of the best of Disney's output, as well as being the first animated film to be nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. It won two Oscars- both for its sublime music- and was turned into a hit stage musical. Unsurprisingly, it's now had a live action remake.
Directed by Bill Condon (Dreamgirls, Mr. Holmes), it's a very faithful adaptation of the animated film with a couple of added character bits and a few new songs. It follows the same story as the animated film: Belle is a beautiful but educated and headstrong young woman which puts her at odds with the people in her small provincial town. When her father is imprisoned by a ferocious beast in an enchanted castle in the woods close to the town, Belle offers herself in her father's place and becomes the Beast's prisoner. Gradually though, the relationship between Belle and the Beast begins to soften and perhaps there's something there that wasn't there before...
Disney's Beauty And The Beast is one of my favourite films of all time. So it was with a little trepidation that I went into the cinema. Were they about to butcher one of my most beloved films?
No. No, they weren't.
Simply put, the live action version is an absolute gem. Visually, the entire film is absolutely stunning. Jacqueline Durran's costumes are just sumptuous; everything from Belle's iconic yellow ball-gown down to Gaston's blood-red jacket looks perfect. Everything from the production design to the set decoration, the art design and the visual effects come together to create an absolute feast for the eyes.
The songs from the original animated film are included (written by Alan Menken and the late Howard Ashman) with new ones written by Menken and Sir Tim Rice. It's just a shame that they couldn't use songs from the stage musical, although the songs that have been added are good and entirely in keeping with the original. Menken also composes the score, by turns melancholic, jovial, and spine-tingling. All of the singing is good; some singing is better than others, but nobody is in a Pierce-Brosnan-in-Mamma-Mia or Russell-Crowe-in-Les-Miserables situation.
Performances across the board are superb. Whilst I was a little dubious before about Emma Watson's casting, she's entirely brilliant as Belle. She plays Belle's vulnerability as well as she plays her bravery. It's a very assured performance. Dan Stevens is similarly strong as the Beast; surly and angry yet softening as he gets to know her. It's also nice that they've chosen to make him more educated; he gets a nice moment when he gives Belle the library. One of the added character bits is to see both Belle and the Beast's early life (both losing their mothers at a young age) which shows they have more in common than they first thought. This, on the whole, works.
Luke Evans is suave and charming as Gaston, although this version has his move to out-and-out villain a lot earlier. Josh Gad is great as the faithful LeFou, clearly infatuated with his friend (more on that later). Kevin Kline puts in a wonderfully nuanced and quite moving performance as Belle's father Maurice, more overprotective but still very caring. There's also an important, yet silent, role for Hattie Morahan who plays the Enchantress who casts the spell over the Beast in the first place.
Moving over to the inhabitants of the castle, no complaints: Ewan McGregor is similarly suave as the debonair Lumiere, Ian McKellen is wonderful as cantankerous Cogsworth whilst Emma Thompson adds warmth and homeliness as Mrs Potts. Doctor Who actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw is good as the flirtatious feather-duster Plumette and young actor Nathan Mack is great as Chip, whilst Audra McDonald and Stanley Tucci are a wonderful pairing as Madame Garderobe and Maestro Cadenza (who are turned into the wardrobe and a harpsichord respectively).
I've got to address the elephant in the room. Ever since it was announced that there was going to be an 'exclusively gay moment' in the film, conservatives, evangelists and homophobes the world over have poured bile and vitriol across the airwaves and the internet denouncing this move. I don't know what they're expecting them to show in a PG-rated movie but I think it says much more about their mindset than anything else.
Making LeFou gay is not the greatest leap forward; it's clear in the animated version that he's very devoted to Gaston. So what is this moment? What could possibly be worth such a negative backlash? Well... in the ball at the end, LeFou dances with another man. That's it. That's what the furore is all about. It's as bad as all those idiots foaming at the mouth about Sulu being gay in Star Trek Beyond when, in a real blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment, all you see is him putting his hand on the small of another man's back.
So you have the first canonically gay character in a Disney film here; you also have not only the first, but second, live-action interracial kiss in a Disney movie when Audra McDonald and Stanley Tucci lock lips at the end, as do Ewan McGregor and Gugu Mbatha-Raw. Thankfully there haven't been protests about that.
I truly loved this film. It's quite a different beast to the animated feature but to compare the two is a bit like comparing apples and oranges (as live-action and animation are two wildly different mediums). It's a funny, lively, touching film, beautiful to look at, lovely to listen to, and a pure joy from start to finish.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Tez
Sir Ian McKellen reunites with his Gods And Monsters director Bill Condon for Mr. Holmes, an adaptation of Mitch Cullin's novel A Slight Trick Of The Mind which features an elderly version of the great detective.
It's 1947 and the 93 year old Sherlock Holmes (McKellen) lives in retirement in Sussex with his housekeeper Mrs Munro (Laura Linney) and her son Roger (Milo Parker). Holmes is happy with his bees, preferring to stay out of the limelight after John Watson's stories of Holmes' cases have become famous. However, after more than thirty years, he is haunted by his final case; the case which ended his career. There was always something troubling about it, something that never rang true in Watson's version of events. Holmes resolves to figure out what. Not easy when the world's greatest detective is suffering from dementia and his once sharp intellect is waning.
McKellen plays Holmes as both the younger detective and the older, more decrepit retiree and is superb at both. The older Holmes' dementia provides some poignant moments as he tries to put the pieces back together and there is a marked physical change between the two versions of Holmes. McKellen is the kind of actor that could read the phone book and make it sound like Shakespeare and he acquits himself brilliantly in the role.
It's a shame the same can't be said of some of the supporting cast (but that's more to do with the material than the actors). Laura Linney is a much better actress than the material she's given here and she's practically wasted in the role which has her little more than a disapproving harridan. Some facile attempts to give the character character fall flat and feel shoe-horned. Milo Parker is better in the role of Roger, luckily eschewing any precocious brat instincts and acting as a good foil for Holmes. However, both Linney and Parker suffer from wandering accent syndrome, sounding at times West Country then Irish then occasionally Scottish which is a little off-putting, to say the least.
Hattie Morahan plays Ann Kelmot, the subject of Holmes' last case, with a beautiful fragility and it's actually quite a wrenching moment when all the pieces come together and you realise the truth of the last case. There's a supporting cast of top-notch British acting talent- including Roger Allam, Frances de la Tour, Phil Davis, John Sessions and Frances Barber- which rounds out things nicely.
It's a well shot and well designed films, the costumes and make-up are superb and it evokes the spirit of the times in which it is set. However (and it's a big however) the script is what lets the film down. It's poorly structured and one of the main storylines- Holmes' sojourn to Japan to find a plant that is reputed to help with senile dementia- is rather weak. If it had focused on the final case alone, the film would have been stronger.
Ultimately, this is a pleasant, slow drama which would be perfect for a Sunday evening. Whilst the plot is inconsistent, it's worth seeing for the bravura performance by McKellen.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Tez
