Starring Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway
Directed by Tom Hooper
Abandoning the hallowed halls of Buckingham Palace for the squalid slums of 19th Century France, Tom Hooper (The Kings Speech) also forsakes his workmanlike brand of filmmaking in favour of a bombastic shooting style befitting a musical phenomenon.
The camera swirls, swoops, and tilts incessantly, while fisheye lenses stretch and distort the barrage of images. Given all this visual mayhem, one would hope that the familiar songbook might serve to anchor the proceedings. However, Hoopers decision to have his cast sing live on set (rather than lip sync) only furthers the discord.
Consequently, this adaptations strongest moment arrives when the camera settles on Fantine (Anne Hathaway) for several minutes as the tuberculous-ridden prostitute bellows the impassioned I Dreamed a Dream. Not long for this world, Fantine grants custody of her young daughter Cosette (who grows up to become the warbling Amanda Seyfried) to Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman), a reformed prisoner in search of redemption. Locked in a relentless-if-glacial pursuit of Valjean is Javert (Russell Crowe), a policeman seemingly oblivious to the fact hes devoted two decades to bringing a bread thief to justice.
Given that Hooper doesnt much care if his actors are singing in key, its unsurprising that he exhibits similar disregard to ensuring that his film maintains a consistent tone. In his clumsy hands, the supposed comic relief supplied by Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen treads closer to corporal punishment. If nothing else, we share some of the suffering endured by the French revolutionaries in the films final hour. However, theres to be no reward for our sacrifice.
