Les Miserables (2012)

This movie isn't my type of thing. I wasn't expecting to like it, and I didn't. I'm putting this out there for purposes of full disclosure. In many ways I liked it even less than expected, but in a couple of ways I found it compelling.

If you haven't read the book (I loved it as a kid - need to re-read) or seen the play (once was enough for me), then you should know this movie closely follows the book. It's a tragic story about a convict, Jean Valjean, in 1800s France who gets out of jail after 19 years and breaks parole in order to become a new person. He succeeds, but his past is always following him in the form of a policeman by the name of Javert. The redeeming part of the story is about love for fellow man and resiliency. And it's a great book - a true classic.

The movie sings every line except for perhaps two sentences. It sings "hello". This is not something I enjoy, but I believe many people do. The director, Tom Hooper, wrings all the pathos out of his scenery that any director possibly could. In a way, he's like Steven Spielberg in this. In Spielberg's films, everything is gorgeous and over-the-top. In this film, everything is filthy and disgusting and cold and over-the-top. I found the shivering and shaking and artistically applied dirt to be ridiculous. While the acting was great, I am not fond of the sets that this guy uses. I felt the same way about the King's Speech (also by Tom Hooper) - great acting, but overly contrived sets. Almost cutesy. In this movie the sets are Hollywood-style grungy. Not at all realistic, and distracting.

The good part would be some of the performances, but overall, this movie was way too long for me, and way too melodramatic.