"Les Miserables" Challenges Difficult Broadway to Hollywood Transition

Fantine (Anne Hathaway) is one of many characters who change the life of ex-convict, Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman).

At the 83rd Academy Awards, Tom Hooper took home the top prize for directing The King's Speech and in just a short time of two years, he's already managed to surpass his own success with a more confidently directed adaptation of the beloved Boublil Broadway musical, Les Misérables. The musical and this big screen version are based on the classic 19th century Victor Hugo novel of the same name.

Les Misérables spans nearly two decades chronicling the life of ex-convict Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman), who stole a loaf of bread to provide for his family. An insignificant crime perhaps, but Valjean constantly finds himself at odds with police inspector Javert (Russell Crowe), whose by-the-books mindset disrupts his gradual reformation in becoming a respectable member of society. In the guise of a well-off factory owner, Valjean's compassion is put to the test when one of his employees (Anne Hathaway) is unjustly dismissed. Regretting his initial ignorance of the situation, Valjean promises to adopt her mistreated daughter child from a couple of exploitive innkeepers.  

Clocking in at an extensively dramatic 150 minutes, Les Misérables requires a whole lot more than just patience for the uninitiated. The story is riveting, but be prepared for a nonstop onslaught of characters pouring out their hearts minutes at a time. With practically every line of dialogue being sung, Les Misérables attests that excessive faithfulness to a drastically different medium like Broadway results in a less-than-perfect translation. Now by no means is that a euphemistic way to say that the film fails to deliver the goods, because as a cinematic adaptation, it still does in its own way.

First of all, Les Misérables deserves to be labeled as a sprawling epic. While as cliché as it might sound, the compelling lifelong journey Jean Valjean must endure is a testament to this fact. He's not a bad person by any stretch, but just one whose thievery followed the classic adage, "the ends justify the means." Jackman's performance as Valjean ensnares audiences for the most part of two-and-a-half hours. When introduced to his character in the opening chain gang song, "Look Down," it's a given that   he is the keystone of raw emotion from his initial performance as chained up and disheveled prisoner under the supervision of Crowe's Javert. And from there, he flourishes with his relationship with destitute ex-employee, Fantine (Anne Hathaway) and later on his affectionate ward, Cosette (Amanda Seyfried).

But as much as Jackman carries Les Misérables with his dynamic singing and acting combination, Anne Hathaway as Fantine is what audiences will take away most from the film. Granted, Hathaway's tragic character isn't given much screen time, but she works her magic, winning over even the most unimpressed audiences in the little time she is given. Hearing Hathaway belt out "I Dreamed a Dream" in a way that rivals and yes, even surpasses Susan Boyle's rendition from a few years back.     

Russell Crowe and Amanda Seyfried round out the remainder of the ensemble cast, and they both satisfy their roles. Except for a secondary love triangle in the latter half, Seyfried isn't given much more to do as the older iteration of Fantine's daughter, Cosette than being flawlessly beautiful. At times, she's forgotten about to focus more on a student resistance movement consuming a large portion of the story.

And while his singing ability might not rival his co-stars, Crowe works well as the authoritative Javert, who's always popping up as a thorn in the side of Valjean. Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen play child Cosette's abusive guardians, only there for typecast quirky comic relief. Their presence onscreen shift from goofy to uninteresting fast. Is there any limit on many weirdos these two are allowed to play onscreen?

There is much pressure on director Hooper for trying to cater Les Misérables to as many audiences as possible. While no side will be completely satisfied, Hooper finds balance in creating a visual spectacle that transcends the limitations of a Broadway stage, while maintaining the musical's integrity by lopping off as little as possible. When it's all said and done, Hooper does push the limits of transforming a musical into a film, even with its pacing and framing sacrificed at times.

One common thread amongst the ensemble of Les Misérables is quality of extensive singing. Rather than the standard lip-synching, the cast sang everything on set and it's to the film's advantage. There's no faking emotions here. When Anne Hathaway's Fantine is reflecting on her life in "I Dreamed a Dream," it's a powerful and natural performance. Likewise, Hugh Jackman carries his experience from Broadway over, slightly trailing Hathaway in singing performance. 

But like almost every Broadway adaptation preceding it, Les Misérables falls into the trap of awkward pacing that finds itself shackled to a rigid two-act form that firmly resists to be restructured in film's conventional three-act style. The first 80 minutes of Les Misérables fiercely capture Valjean's younger years as he is given a second chance at life as a detached factory owner, but it's not until he makes a life-altering promise to a dying Fantine that he finally comes to grips with his life's true purpose. But even with an ill-fated battle and forbidden love at the forefront of the final hour, the latter half can't measure up to what's already taken place. While not as devastating as a total freefall, there is less to appreciate in what was intended to be the more dramatic chapters of Les Misérables.

Les Misérables will certainly divide audiences with Broadway diehards clamoring to the fact that it's just not the musical on stage and regular moviegoers taking issues with an overuse of singing and an excessive run time to get a simple point across. Regardless, Hooper takes the best of both mediums, resulting in one of better Broadway adaptations in recent memory.  

GRADE: A- (9/10)