Les Miserables

I first saw Les Miserables when I was 8 years old in a beautiful old theater in England. Sitting in that dark theater watching people on stage become Fantine and Marius and Javert, hearing the expression of such profound emotion through music... the feeling will remain imprinted in my mind forever. I never thought anything could compete with that experience, but tonight, 20 years later, in a movie theater, I was able to feel the same connection to the story as I did one night so long ago.

For those of you who don't know, Les Miserables is a story of the people. By "the people" I mean those overlooked, down on there luck, people in hard times. In the beginning, that one person is Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman). Jean Valjean is a criminal serving a sentence for theft. He stole a piece of bread for his dying nephew. His prison guard, Javert (Rusell Crowe), makes it his mission to ensure Jean's life is as unpleasant as possible, especially when he decides to skip out on his parole. Valjean is given a second chance by an unlikely stranger. With this chance he becomes a new man who tries to do right by people. He becomes Governor of a small town and provides work for those in need. When he discovers that one of his employees, Fantine (Anne Hathaway), was fired without just cause, he promises her on her death bed that he'll take care of her fatherless child like his own, that she will "want for nothing." He keeps his promise and raises Cossette and protects her from all the threats of the cruel world. One of those threats being that they are constantly hunted by Javert, who is unrelenting in his chase, another being the brink of revolution and Cossette's sudden affection for a certain young revolutionary Marius (Eddie Redmayne). Everyone has something to loose and they are all willing to die to get what is important to them.

What a beautiful story of sacrifice and redemption, an expression of bravery and suffering. For me Les Miserables is a live piece of art that reaches out and pulls at everything that makes me human, every feeling that connects me and drives me to take actions.

Eddie Redmayne, who plays Marius, is an absolutely wonderful actor. Every look, every movement, every syllable is accomplished with an almost painful intensity. He's fantastic!

The next actor I must give praise to is someone with a some-what small, but very important role. Young Daniel Huttlestone plays Gavorche. He's a rough-tough gutsy little street kid who represents the heart and fight of the revolution. He's wise and fearless beyond his years, and seems to be at the center of what's going on in the streets. Huttlestone acts with such confidence and ease that I can't believe that he's so young and new to the whole movie world. I was beyond impressed with his performance, can't wait to see more from him.

I thought Hugh Jackman lived up to his reputaion of a theater man. He plays Jean Valjean well. I love Russell Crowe but was left wanting a little more from him. I wanted to feel his torment more deeply. His performance was a little muted for the strong stormy character Javert. Anne Hathaway gave a commendable performance as Fantine. She was really able to embody her agony with her singing. I was completely indifferent to the actress who played Eponine. It might bother me more than most because I've always felt a close connection with her. I feel like we didn't get to know her well enough, like she didn't have enough personality. Eponine is a girl that's one of the guys. A girl whose smart and tough and won't take any crap form anyone. She felt very blah to me in the movie. This leads me to another disappointment... Cossette. I keep waiting to be impressed by the actress Amanda Seyfried. I guess it's been enough for her to just get by with her looks so far. I felt no chemistry between her and her leading man Marius (Redmayne), which I don't understand because that guy could have chemistry with a rock. I should give mention to one more actor who I thought stood out. In the supporting role off Enjolras, a revolutionary and friend of Marius, Aaron Tveit's strength and integrity unites the rebels and brings a sense of brotherhood. I felt that the amazing actors were more than enough to comensate for the so-so performances.

Most importantly the movie was fantastic. It was as moving and inspiring as I remember it  being 20 years ago. Les Miserables will always be very close to my heart. I spent about 2/3 of the movie in tears, but for good reason, and it means that the movie was a success for me.