Les Misérables (3/19/2013)

Rated PG-13 for suggestive and sexual material, violence and thematic elements.

Starring Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, Sacha Baron Cohen, Helena Bonham Carter

Directed by Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech)

I was looking forward to seeing Les Misérables. I was looking forward to seeing Hugh Jackman (a man who has my respect for playing an amazing Wolverine in X-Men) in the role of Jean Valjean. I was looking forward to seeing Anne Hathaway’s musical performance after having glimpsed its candy-coated splendor in the previews. And I was looking forward to seeing another great film directed by Tom Hooper. But by the time the film was halfway done… I was looking forward to the film being over.

I was very conflicted by Les Misérables as I walked out of the movie theater. I was torn because the film wasn’t an all together bad movie. Nothing could be further from the truth. The acting was positively awe-inspiring, and the actors managed to evoke such powerful performances while singing at the same time. To get so many actors to hit their characters so spot on in one film is quite the feat. It probably helped to have a flurry of actors with considerable repute littered throughout the movie, but many of the actors who I’d never seen before, like Eddie Redmayne and Samantha Barks, added so much to the movie with their performances. The music was also amazing. And nobody surprised me more than Anne Hathaway who has got a mean set of pipes, which she has apparently been hiding in the folds of her frequently cast-off blouse.

But don’t let my praises fool you; I still didn’t like this film.

The first reason for my disdain was the film’s pacing, which I think greatly disrupted the tone of the original story. Les Misérables is a story whose title loosely suggests what we are generally going to feel throughout the film, miserable. And that’s how I felt when I saw/read previous renditions of this play. So I felt cheated when Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter came out and started “goofying” everything up just as I was beginning to start feeling a tug at my heartstrings. This wasn’t your typical accepted “comic relief.” This was just plain disruptive. It happened throughout the entirety of the film, best exemplified at one point when Hugh Jackman is trying to escape capture and crawls into a sewer and falls into a revolting pipe full of grotesquely detailed poop-water. Just as I should be feeling the immensity of his despair at being so low just to survive, Sacha Baron Cohen drunkenly stumbles around the corner looting valuables from corpses, serving absolutely no plot device aside from Hugh Jackman asking him where the exit is.

Another downfall to this film was incidentally one of its merits as well, the consistent singing through the entire film being the culprit. Every word was in song, and this wouldn’t be a problem had I not felt like it also disrupted the plot. There were plenty of moments where the music was fine; in fact it was exemplary most of the time. But nearly every conversation between characters felt unnatural and awkward to me, and the characters walked around saying their thoughts out loud. I understand that this is part of musicals, and that a song is an expression in the same way that our bodies are. But the plot was basically rendered moot because of the characters’ frequent proclamation of their internal dialogues. In certain scenes where Russell Crowe (who plays a police inspector) is looking at Hugh Jackman in such a way that you might guess he is becoming suspicious, the tension and anticipation is ruined when Crowe decides to sing out, “I think that I may recognize that maaaaaaaaaaan!!” It’s just silly.

All in all, the film wasn’t my favorite. To me it felt like an awkward blind date that ended in me pretending to go to the bathroom and then hastily scrambling out the tiny window in the back to call and verbally abuse the friend who set me up on this nightmare. But the reason I was so upset about the film was because I couldn’t purely hate it. I had to recognize the immense talent that went into making the movie, and that talent by itself is worth seeing. I just feel that the way it came out wasn’t the best. Knowing what I know now, I would say that I would probably just rent this one. But if you find Hugh Jackman to be a handsome man and want to swoon over him for 157 minutes, then off to the movie theaters with you. Go on now. Shoo.

SHOULD KIDS SEE IT?
The film isn’t for younger kids. The themes are mature and frankly… young kids would be bored. The movie earns its PG-13 rating, with disturbing violence, and a few sexual scenes (no nudity), one where you see a clothed woman bouncing on top of someone, and another where sex was implied.

CONVERSATION STARTER

1. In the beginning of the movie, Jean Valjean is given shelter and hospitality from a kindly Bishop but then he goes and steals from his host and sneaks away. Later he is caught and brought back to the Bishop by the constables. But the Bishop does something unbelievable. He not only says that he had given the stolen items as a gift but also goes back in and brings out the candlesticks to give him, saying, “But remember this, my brother – see in this some higher plan. You must use this precious silver to become and honest man…” This was an unexpected gift to Jean Valjean; it was life-changing for him to be given such outrageous forgiveness and grace. He never forgot it and it is what motivated him to change his future for the better. Why do you think he responded this way?


2. Has anyone ever given you shocking or unbelievable forgiveness before? How did it affect you?


3. How would you have responded if you would have been in the Bishop’s shoes?


4. Read the following scripture:
   
   Luke 6:27-36
   27″But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. 30Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31Do to others as you would have them do to you.

   32″If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ love those who love them. 33And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ do that. 34And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ lend to ‘sinners,’ expecting to be repaid in full. 35But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

   
   What are some of the commands Jesus gives us in this passage?


5. What might “loving your enemies” look like in your life today?


6. What are some things you can do this week to love your enemies and forgive like Christ commands us to?