'Les Miserables' - A stunning cinematic work, not without it's flaws

Tom Hooper's 'Les Miserables', when hitting it's mark, is a wonder to behold. Anne Hathaway is a sure bet for the Best Supporting Actress Nomination, her stunningly beautiful rendition of 'I Dreamed A Dream' is the watershed moment of the movie and alone is worth the price of admission. That moment is the one that I walked away with playing endlessly in my head, it was raw, full of emotion and a crowning moment for Hathaway who is building quite the career for herself.

And that is the flaw of 'Les Miserable'.

'Les Miserable', as directed by Hooper, is a series of grand, beautiful moments interspersed among other, longer and somewhat boring moments. The grand, beautiful moments are so high, so impactful that the slower, less impactful moments are rendered that much more, at times bringing the film to a grinding halt. Don't get me wrong, even flawed, I thought this was a wonderful film, worthy of the big screen and worthy of the many nominations that I am sure it will receive.

I know that 'Les Miserables' is a cultural icon and a theater darling; but it does suffer from a lack of focus. The story of Jean Valjean (played flawlessly by Hugh Jackman, a shoe-in for a Best Actor Nomination) a reformed thief trying to do right by God and relentlessly pursued by a tyrannical Inspector Javert (Russell Crowe, while not as talented a singer as Jackman, was passable here) is enough to make a full movie; now toss in the historic June Rebellion. It is at this point that the movie becomes a bit bloated. I understand the connection to the Rebellion and Valjean, but it causes us to lose a bit of focus on Valjean and for much of the 3rd act, we don't even see Valjean. I feel there might have been better ways to make the connection while keeping the focus on Valjean. And rightly so, I feel, every scene that Jackman is in is a stunner. He carries the screen and the camera with every shot. The emotion of the music is played within his features and voice. Like Hathaway, Jackman OWNS the music he sings; they both become a part of the song and that is why they work so wonderfully.

Hooper made the choice to allow the actors to sing live on film, as opposed to dubbing in the vocals from a studio recording, and for the most part this works well. It is this choice that allows the actors to play through the emotion of the song and not only do we see the emotion, but we truly hear the emotion as it is happening. Powerful. This works stunningly well for Hathaway who delivers the performance of a lifetime. Jackman has always been an old school song and dance man and that training shows through well. Amanda Seyfried, while at times a little shrill, was good, her doughy blue eyes conveying more emotion than the songs themselves. Crowe seemed uncomfortable at times, but I give him credit for playing through it and giving it a passable go. Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter were simply a riot and bought much needed as well as appreciated comic relief at just the right moments.

I would see this 4 star epic again if only to watch Anne Hathaway sing 'I Dream A Dream'. It is very worthy of the big screen and if you allow yourself the moment to see past some of the flaws, it is a stunning, romantic and sweeping film.