At the Cinema - December 2012

Les Miserables – 7
You’ll like this movie if you
a.  Liked the Broadway Play
b.  Like Anne Hathaway
c.  Like singing dialogue

If you are an aficionado of the long-running Broadway play Les Miserables, you’ll probably love this flim adaptation.  Many of the early crowds probably fit that description, and the Christmas Day opening crowd was certainly enthusiastic.

I never had the chance to see the Broadway play, and so I’ll have to judge this on its own, knowing next to nothing about the original.  I would summarize it this way.  They had me at goodbye.

While it’s a very impressive production, other than Anne Hathaway’s scenes (which are knockouts) the movie suffers from excessive length, strange casting, and mediocre music.  When the characters are singing songs, some are impressive.  When they are singing their dialogue, and repetitively at that, they just don’t connect, at least with me.  I'm sure the soundtrack is legendary, but the first and only time I heard it, and I hate to be a music critic, but...blah.

Anne Hathaway will probably get an Oscar nomination for her role, and she’s riveting in her short time on screen.  Hugh Jackman was up to the task as the main character, Jean Valjean.  I have no idea why Russell Crowe was cast in a pivotal singing role.  His acting is fine, but his singing is like listening to paint dry.  They could have cast James Gandolfino.  At least he was a soprano (ha). 

But more than anything else the movie makes you want to go to the bathroom.  It’s of standard blockbuster length at 158 minutes, and it is just too long.  More than anything else, this is a movie that needs editing.  It’s hard for any movie to hold attention for 2 and a half hours, much less one with singing dialogue.  I love musicals.  Not this one.  I couldn't wait to say Goodbye.

This is 40 = 6
You’ll like this movie if you like
a.  long build-ups
b.  Judd Apatow
c.  Paul Rudd
Trust me when I say that Les Miz is downright economical in its editing when compared to this disaster.
That’s not to say there aren’t some wildly funny scenes.  The problem is that they are spread out over an intolerably long time frame.  Apatow thinks he’s doing Shakespeare, when he needs to be doing Woody Allen.  Say what you want about Woody, but he knows how to bring home the bacon in 90 minutes.  Even if you hate his movie, you’re in and out and you can get on with your life. 
Apatow doesn’t want you to leave the theater.  He’s got a gift for racy, raunchy comedy.  Let’s hope he finds an editor that has the guts to cut him down to a viewable size.

Parental Guidance – 9
You’ll like this movie if you like
a.  crisp comedy
b.  Billy Crystal
c.  A Heartwarming story
This movie is a very traditional comedy.  It’s a clear 3 act story  that is crisp, concise, and consistently funny.  You know exactly where the story is going, and you may even know how it’s going to get there, but it’s a wonderful little ride of comedy and warmth.

Billy Crystal and Bette Midler play the parents of Marisa Tomei, and that’s a great movie right there.  Marisa is the mother of 3 youngsters who Billy and Bette haven’t connected with yet.  They’ve got a week to do it, and that’s your story.  What else do you need?  Not much as it turns out.  They had me at Hello.

Jack Reacher – 8
You’ll like this movie if you like
a.  Tom Cruise
b.  Pittsburgh
c.  Action
Apparently the Jack Reacher literary fans are saying Tom Cruise is miscast as the title character.  They better get used to it, as it appears Cruise is launching another franchise.  Like most Cruise movies, this is a first class production.  Its action scenes are well executed, well placed, and believable.  How did Cruise miss out on playing Jason Bourne?

Jack Reacher is a former army investigator who now lives life “off the grid.”  He’s summoned by an accused sniper to a Pittsburgh crime scene that appears to be an open and shut case.  If it were, there wouldn’t be a movie.  How Reacher unravels it, with the help of the defense attorney, is great stuff.  The use of the Pittsburgh terrain is also wonderful. 

Way better than I expected, but then the movie had me at, you know, the beginning.