Les Miserables

While Victor Hugo's epic novel Les Miserables has had cinematic life over and over again, its most famous rendition hadn't. That, of course, is the equally epic musical composed in French by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg and translated to English by Herbert Kretzmer.

But now, director Tom Hooper, to follow his Oscar for The King's Speech, has finally made the people sing.

Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) has just been released from nineteen years of hard-time for stealing bread. Valjean skips parole and makes a new life for himself as an honest man. Valjean aids the destitute, dying Fantine (Anne Hathaway) by adopting her daughter, Cosette (Isabelle Allen/Amanda Seyfried). But Inspector Javert (Russell Crowe) is right behind him, determined to bring the "crook" back to prison.

There's also a student uprising in Paris, during which Cosette falls for the revolutionary Marius (Eddie Redmayne). He also has a secret admirer in plain sight named Eponine (Samantha Barks). That is where the chase ends up, but who'll yield first?

I've seen this on stage before. Was it worth it?

Yes.

Since Hooper, bucking tradition, had the actors sing live on set, the sound crew had much work to do. What they have done is to create clear vocals to go along with the orchestrations. As a result, the show's memorable music is just as grand on the big screen as it was on stage.

What Hooper basically hoped to accomplish was to make a musical where singing and acting went hand in hand. This is especially true with Jackman and Hathaway, whose strong vocals move the audience's pathos wonderfully. The standout solos of Redmayne and Barks, meanwhile, also deliver some of the film's strongest moments. Stealing the show are Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter, who provide much needed comic relief as the crooked Thenardiers.

It maybe around three hours, but those hours went by fast. My only complaint is that sometimes it went too fast. And while some folks might cry foul over the film's rearrangement of the stage libretto, Les Miserables works well as a movie musical. It definitely is one of the best films to wait all year for.

Jethro's Note: No Apocalypse.