Les Miserables

Les Miserables” stars Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, Russell Crowe, Helen Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen in this theatrical production of the stage musical that has  entertained so many for so many thousands of performances. Utilizing the technique of “live singing” in the film, director Tom Hooper affords the viewer a more meaningful experience of this oft told story of Jean Valjean, his pursuer Javert, his adopted daughter Cosette and Cosette’s mother, Fantine.. Cleverly using outside microphones attached to the heads’ of the actors as they sing and later removing them digitally in post-production, the audience is able to appreciate on a more intimate and personal basis the talents of Mr. Jackman and especially Ms. Hathaway who, if the performance were live, would receive a standing ovation after her first singing number.. The film is truly a delight to see and listen to but, unfortunately, it is too long. One gets the impression that the producers, having built these impressive sets and hiring so many extras, sought to get as much mileage as possible from these assets without taking into account the audience’s stamina and capacity to absorb all of it. Remember, too, that this film has only a few spoken lines with 99% percent of the dialogue being sung and this, after 2 hours and 50 minutes, can indeed be trying, certainly at least to this viewer. Even Broadway shows have an intermission at the end of the first 90 minutes so, unfortunately, amidst all this grandeur and great filmmaking, I found myself looking at my watch at least 3X after the first 100 minutes. I give the film a well deserved 3 stars while remembering the old adage that  “too much of a good thing isn’t always a good thing”