2.Why did some people hate Les Miserables, but were fine with other musicals?

In 2012, Universal Pictures presented us with the musical motion picture, Les Miserables.  I remember when it was released, and how snarky everyone that had seen the show on Broadway was that they could pronounce it correctly (lay miser-ob) while everyone else was saying “that movie, umm lessmiserable..sss?”.  Anyway, the movie was widely famous, and everyone was walking around singing the songs all the time, and of course everyone was talking about the cast, made up of Hugh Jakman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, and Eddie Redmayne, just to name a few.  So many people were shocked how some of these actors sounded great, and how some didn’t, and that’s where the issue comes from.

                                 Les Miserables received some very mixed reviews.  Some people loved the idea of a musical movie, as well as the costumes, and actors, but a lot of people were furious. First of all, a lot of theater peple wouldn’t quiet down about how Anne Hataway wasn’t the perfect Fanzine (even though she won an Oscar) and others couldn’t get over how, even though Russel Crowe was on key and held his own in the singing, Javert sounded so awkward.  Among the whole population though, was the issue of the constant singing.  I can’t count how many times I heard “Dude! They sang the WHOLE time! Every word!”.  Audiences did not receive the non-stop singing well at all.  Why though?  Les Miserables is not the first musical movie we’ve had.  In fact, we’ve adored musical films in the past, so what gives? …. Well I’ll try and flesh it all out myself.

Think about every musical movie you’ve seen.  Try and think of live action movies, not animated movies. Singing in the Rain, Music Man, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, White Christmas, Meet Me in St. Louis, The Wizard of Oz,  Annie Get Your Gun, The Sound of Music, Mary Poppins, Annie, the list goes on and on.   How come these movies are celebrated by people young and old, and Les Mis is just..eh?  Well let’s begin with something you probably overlooked about these films, mot of them can be viewed by the young and old.  Most of the songs in these movies are also light hearted and chipper, so you love singing along to them.  There may be one or two sad or scary songs in these films, but they are nowhere near the amount of sad songs in Les Miserables.  I know that the theme of sad songs kind of goes along with the title of the play and the subject matter, but gosh other than the final song, when they all die, the happiest song is sung by a conniving landlord.  It just doesn’t appeal to audiences.

Let me go back to a point I raised earlier, that being the point of way too much singing in general.  Look back on the list I gave of other musicals.  In not one of those films is the dialogue exclusively singing.  The songs are broken up by regular speaking and natural plot development.  The only time they sing is when theres a big event, a moment of great emotion, a revelation, or perhaps a character introduction.  Take Annie for example, as it’s one of my favorites, and a more recent film as it came out in 1982.  Annie has some iconic songs, but they’re for exposition, character development, and big events.  “Hard Knock Life” explains to the audience that these orphans are not well tken care of.  “I think ]I’m Gonna Like it Here” introduces the audience to Mr. Warbucks’ house and Annie’s new way of life, and “Little Girls” displays some character development for the cruel Ms. Hannigan. The only songs that aren’t exactly prompted  are songs like “Tomorrow” or “Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile”  but Annie sings “Tomorrow” when she’s upset, but hopeful about the future, and the orphans sing “Without a Smile” to joke around with giddiness after hearing about Annie on the radio, and to display to audiences that the girls make their own fun.    The singing is not “hello monsieur, what’s new with you?” which is an actual line sang by Eponine to Marius in Les Miserables.  Though it’s not the worst thing that could happen in a film, the singing really exhausts itself when you’ve reached the second act and people are still singing to just say “hello” or “could you do me a favor buddy?” or “Hey, come in the house real fast”.  Some people even argue that although the singing does evoke passion and ceremony, some dramatic moments would do better with just shouting or intimate conversational whispers.

Part of me feels bad for writing this post, because I really did enjoy Les Miserables.  I thought Russell Crowe and Hugh Jackman were an interesting match up, and I believe that Anne Hathaway truly deserved the Oscar she earned in that movie.  I like everyone else get frustrated with the film at times, but as a whole I think Les Miserables had great actors, great costume, nice sets, and a great soundtrack.  Hopefully I helped explain the disgust some people feel toward Les Miserables, and hopefully you guys keep coming back to read more.  Have a great week.