jasonhurwitz's Review

Male Stars - Really Great 4.5

  Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean is absolutely stunning. His rendition of "What Have I Done?" is truly showstopping -- I'll be damned if he hasn't, at some point in his life, actually been "a thief in the night ... a dog on the run." That being said, his singing is not top-notch; however, his superb acting more than covers the less-than-stellar singing, no problem. Eddie Redmayne as Marius is also brilliant. As with Jackman, Redmayne's singing isn't perfect, but his acting is so far beyond great that you won't mind his singing at all. Unfortunately, Russel Crowe as Javert is simply terrible. Horrible. The choice to place him in such a critical role constitutes one of the worst casting choices I've ever seen in a movie. Case in point: while leaving the theater, The Wife turned to me and asked, "Why Russel Crowe? Whyyyyyyyy?" For Jackman's superhuman performance, and Redmayne's outstanding contribution, I give this a 4.5, even though Crowe's performance did its best to drag this review much lower.

Female Stars - Really Great 4.5

  Anne Hathaway as Fantine deserves every award it can win. Hathaway's physical and emotional investment in the roll is apparent in her total commitment to the role: she looks the part 100%, and you forget that she isn't the destitute mother-turned-prostitute you're seeing before you. She's not acting -- she's absolutely living the part. Sadly, Amanda Seyfried as grown-up Cosette is not good. A slight step above Russel Crowe's miserable attempt at portraying Javert, Seyfried's voice cannot hold up to the part she sings. Her solos lack emotion AND breath support, and her acting does not make up for that shortcoming. Although Seyfried's lead role was lackluster, I still give this section a 4.5 because Hathaway's performance was just SO incredible that it totally washed away Seyfried. Forget "Princess Diaries":http://www.viewguide.com/movies/368100-the-princess-diaries and "Alice in Wonderland":http://www.viewguide.com/movies/379991-alice-in-wonderland, Hathaway has now shown her awesome acting ability in its most raw form!

Female Costars - Very Good 3.5

  Samantha Barks as Éponine was great. Helena Bonham Carter as Madame Thénardier (the innkeeper's wife) was forgettable.

Male Costars - Very Good 3.5

  Aaron Tveit as the revolutionary students' leader was really good. Daniel Huttlestone as the boisterous and wise-beyond-his-years Gavroche was also great. Sarah Baron Cohen as Thénardier (the innkeeper) was disappointing.

Direction - Great 4.0

Dialogue - Very Good 3.5

Music - Perfect 5.0

  It's Les Miserables. Anyone who doesn't give the score a Perfect 5 will have their human card revoked.

Visuals - Really Great 4.5

  Epic (though from time to time it's pretty apparent that we're looking at CGI, not real life).

Sex Titillating 2.0

Violence Savage 4.0

Rudeness Polite 1.5

Circumstantial - Natural 1.0

Biological - Natural 1.0

Physical - Natural 1.0