I went to see Les Miserables with my sister the other day, and I have to say, it was pure perfection. It was my favorite musical before the movie came out, and I'm proud to say, it still is. The movie made me favor it even more. It's just so hard to describe how happy it made me. I cried within the first three minutes of the first scene. I don't really know why, though, because nothing particularly sad or depressing happened right away.
I thought they cast the characters perfectly, even Cosette, who still remains to be one of my least favorite people, but she wasn't as annoying in the movie; Amanda Seyfried did an excellent job of depicting the sweet and innocent person Cosette is, but she didn't sugarcoat the role at all, and her voice wasn't too vibrato-y or annoying. in other words, she didn't make me want to puke. I was pleasantly surprised. Marius, whom I didn't like much either, has also climbed the ranks and joined my favorites. Eddie Redmayne is the actor who portrays Marius, and again, I was pleasantly surprised at how strong and soothing his voice is.
At first when I heard Hugh Jackman and Russel Crowe were cast as two of the main characters, I was a bit hesitant. Actually, it was more like, "Wait...they can sing?!" But they both did an outstanding job and the emotion of their characters shone through their singing. Colm Wilkinson, who was the first and original Jean Valjean, made a cameo appearance as the bishop who helps Valjean after he is released from prison. I think it's neat that, twenty-seven years after the first showing of Les Mis, he was able to remain a part of it.
The only part I didn't like is that my sister, who didn't even know the story before we went to the theater, thought she was an expert on the musical a day or two after we saw it. I find it highly annoying.
At any rate, it's worth it to go see it once...or twice... or three or four times...
Have a fantastic Friday, and a safe weekend!
