Reviews for this film from our members:
- Marco Albanese @ Stanze di Cinema [Italian]
- Excerpt: La modestia assoluta del libretto e delle musiche e la mancanza di un’idea originale di messa in scena, conducono al noiosissimo naufragio un’operazione la cui inutilità era evidente sin dalle premesse.
- Marco Albanese @ Stanze di Cinema [Italian]
- Excerpt: un melodramma del tutto indigesto, tronfio, appesantito da una serie infinita di primi piani di attori, che tentano faticosamente di evitare il ridicolo, mentre si porgono le battute, cantando a mezza voce
- [New – 5/30] | Dragan Antulov @ Draxblog VI [Croatian]
- Rick Aragon @ Rick’s Cafe Texan
- Excerpt: I think the film version of Les Misérables is a straightforward, respectful, respectable, even reverential adaptation of the musical. That may be the problem.
- Sean Axmaker @ MSN Movies
- Excerpt: I find the production elephantine and overwrought and Hooper’s direction simply a mess.
- Chris Barsanti @ Film Racket
- Jason Bellamy @ The Cooler
- Excerpt: A musical review: “Hooper’s In the House”
- Tim Brayton @ Antagony & Ecstasy
- Excerpt: It is unsubtle, but magnificently so.
- Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat @ SpiritualityandPractice.com
- Excerpt: Three cheers for a sentimental musical about forgiveness, freedom, and love that brings tears to our eyes in unison with others!
- Enrique Buchichio @ Cartelera.com.uy [Spanish]
- Excerpt: Hay dos momentos que justifican toda la película, y ambos le pertenecen a Hugh Jackman y Anne Hathaway. El problema es que ambas escenas suceden en la primera media hora…
- Sarah D Bunting @ Tomato Nation
- Bob Cashill @ Popdose.com
- Excerpt: A review of the new movie musical.
- Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: …one of the ugliest big budget awards season movies to date with framing that cuts off the top of young Cosette’s head, close ups so insistent the focus puller must have ulcers and a camera that moves in to the underside of Hathaway’s chin while Fantine lies dying.
- Edwin Davies @ A Mighty Fine Blog
- Excerpt: It’s a big, brassy musical that flies its colours proudly, and which revels in its sheer exuberance.
- Tony Dayoub @ Cinema Viewfinder
- Excerpt: I even pointed out to my wife the specific tear Hathaway sheds that will win her the Oscar just as it fell down her face.
- Jim Dixon @ Examiner.com
- Excerpt: Universal clearly wanted movie stars in this movie, and they have them. You get what you pay for. There’s star presence to spare, and the acting is excellent. The problem here is that “Les Misérables” is a musical, so singing counts, and this musical is almost entirely sung. Stars who could do justice to the songs would have been an asset.
- Jim Dixon @ Examiner.com
- Excerpt: Universal clearly wanted movie stars in this movie, and they have them. You get what you pay for. There’s star presence to spare, and the acting is excellent. The problem here is that “Les Misérables” is a musical, so singing counts, and this musical is almost entirely sung. Stars who could do justice to the songs would have been an asset.
- Mark Dujsik @ Mark Reviews Movies
- Excerpt: This is an underwhelming adaptation, but the film is executed with a unique, admirable approach and, ultimately, is a solid — with reservations — arrangement.
- Candice Frederick @ Reel Talk
- Excerpt: After countless adaptations of Victor Hugo’s nineteenth century politically charged tale, Les Misérables, Hollywood (by way of director Tom Hooper) has revamped the classic once more, giving it an uber glamorized look despite its dismal themes.
- Dustin Freeley @ Movies About Gladiators.com [French]
- Panagiotis Gkaris @ Movies Ltd
- Excerpt: Is Les Misérables an oscar frontrunner? No way. A contender maybe? Yes, granted the Academy controlled love for Musicals. Is it recommendable entertainment? I am sure that it will most please the fans and alienate if not infuriate the others.
- Susan Granger @ www.susangranger.com
- Excerpt: Anguished, unrestrained, relentlessly amplified, it’s a uniquely overwhelming, even exhausting extravaganza.
- Vadym Grygoriev @ kinoblog.com [Ukrainian]
- Phil Hall @ Film Threat
- Roderick Heath @ This Island Rod
- Excerpt: There’s no art here at all; there isn’t even the disturbing pleasure of excess or shamelessness for its own sake. ‘Les Misérables’ represents an absolute bastardisation of both cinema and the musical.
- MaryAnn Johanson @ FlickFilosopher.com
- Excerpt: There’s an alchemy here that brings together the best of screen and the best of stage…
- Benjamin Kramer @ The Voracious Filmgoer
- Excerpt: Less a great movie, more a movie in which you can find greatness, Les Misérables is never better than when its director can get out of his own way.
- Josh Larsen @ LarsenOnFilm.com
- Excerpt: Hathaway’s tragic solo leaves an aftershock that shudders through the rest of the picture.
- Mathieu Li-Goyette @ Panorama-cinéma [French]
- Wesley Lovell @ Cinema Sight
- Excerpt: Reminiscent of the great crowd-pleasing musicals of the 1950’s and 1960’s, Hooper’s story of a 19th century criminal seeking redemption takes the audience on a spectacular excursion into 19th Century Paris and the class warfare that has eerie similarities to conflicts in evidence today.
- Piers Marchant @ Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
- Mike McGranaghan @ The Aisle Seat
- Excerpt: A lush, engaging take on the tale, filled with strong performances of both the musical and the dramatic variety.
- Matthew McKernan @ FilmWhinge
- Excerpt: Les Misérables is a film that aims for greatness and every now and then that greatness does manage to seep through, yet the overall impression is of an unsubtle and cack handed emotional barrage in which many potentially moving scenes are either botched or overblown.
- Jason McKiernan @ Next Projection
- Excerpt: Hooper’s interpretation of the material doesn’t jibe with expansive staging and choreography. It’s like he wants to be a revolutionary but still clings to tradition, and neither discipline is fully functional.
- Brent McKnight @ Beyond Hollywood
- Simon Miraudo @ Quickflix
- Darren Mooney @ the m0vie blog
- Excerpt: Hooper’s a little out of tune with how to adapt from stage to screen…
- Paulo Peralta @ CinEuphoria [Portuguese]
- Jason Pirodsky @ Expats.cz
- Excerpt: http://www.expats.cz/prague/article/film-cinema/les-miserables/
- Bev Questad @ It’s Just Movies
- Tiago Ramos @ Split Screen [Portuguese]
- Jonathan Richards @ www.jonrichardsplace.com
- Excerpt: http://www.jonrichardsplace.com/jonrichardsplace.com/Les_Miserables.html
- Jerry Roberts @ Armchair Cinema
- Excerpt: Tom Hooper creates entertaining adaptation of a musical that leaves subtlety smoldering in the dust. Is it full of grimness and death? You bet, but hey, it’s Les Misérables.
- Marcio Sallem @ Cinema com Critica [Portuguese]
- Tom Santilli @ Examiner.com
- Excerpt: Is it a musical? Yes. Is it a long movie? Yes. But if either of those facts deter you from seeing Les Mis, it’s your loss.
- Norm Schrager @ Meet In the Lobby
- Excerpt: Hooper’s faithful adaptation suffers its bumps and bruises throughout its sizable running time, but has a collection of stirring moments that overwhelm the pain.
- Amir Siregar @ Amir at the Movies [Indonesian]
- Cole Smithey @ ColeSmithey.com
- Excerpt: Audiences new to Boubil & Schoenberg’s stage musical — based on Victor Hugo’s novel of historical fiction — may be surprised to discover the wooly narrative as compelling as they imagined it might be.
- Frank Swietek @ One Guy’s Opinion
- Excerpt: Tom Hooper’s opulent but bloated version of another insipid pop opera proves a lump of coal in moviegoers’ Christmas stockings.
- Phil Villarreal @ Becauseitoldyouso.com
- Excerpt: While there’s some value in making a slavish adaptation of a near-universally beloved stage musical, sticking to all the trappings of the play is a sure path to making the film feel like a translation rather than a similarly inspired production.
