I just saw the film version of Les Miserables. I'm at a loss for words! The film was spectacular! Unlike the confined Broadway set or the re-recreations at the Royal Albert Hall in London in 1995 and 2010, the film version is epic in scope, from the seething slums to the grandeur of Paris. By the end of the performance, my eyes were moist, something that almost never happens to me in either life or fiction.
One of the reasons Les Miserables succeeds is the acting governs the music, not the other way around. In the usual film versions of Broadway shows, the song and lyrics are recorded in a studio, and then months later, the actors lip-synch the results. A decision made in the studio then becomes the acting. In Les Miz, every actor sings every song in every take live. The players get their cue from a simple piano score via a hidden earpiece, but it is they who set the tempo of the music. Every song is caught in the moment, creating the type of spontaneity that exists in other forms of motion pictures. Afterward, a 70-piece orchestra matches the actors' lyrics. This is one of the reasons the film is so extraordinarily powerful.
The other reason, of course, is the acting. Hugh Jackman is magnificent as Jean Valjean. I still remain partial to the vocal range of the original Valjean, Colm Wilkinson, but if you haven't seen Wilkinson, you'll have no trouble loving Jackman. Amanda Seyfried plays a fragile-voiced Cosette to great effect. Handsome and vocally talented Eddie Redmayne was superb as Marius.
I was disappointed, though, in Russell Crowe's performance as Inspector Javert, Valjean's merciless antagonist. He seemed to be a two-dimensional character, when his role, especially toward the end of the film, called for richer, more complex acting along the lines of the original Broadway Javier, Philip Quast. Sacha Baron Cohen was a bit too diabolical as Thenardier the innkeeper; I would have liked to have seen something in between his depiction and that of the comedic version by Alun Armstrong, another Broadway original.
I'm saving the best for last, though. Anne Hathaway as the tragic Fantine and Samantha Barks as the love-lost Eponine stole the show. Banks' rendition of "On My Own" was especially moving. Finally, if you've seen Les Miz on the stage or in one of the PBS telecasts, you know the film inside and out. But you won't be expecting a delightful surprise. I won't spoil it for you. I've enjoyed the earlier film versions of Broadway shows and the more recent ones (Chicago, Evita and Mamma Mia!, for instance). Les Miserables is leagues ahead of these. You ought to see it. It's worth every minute!
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