Houston reactions to film adaptation of LES MISÉRABLES...

[DEClarke]

While I'm not reviewing the film for BroadwayWorld (I wish I was), I wanted to share my thoughts with you guys...

Initial Reactions: The film is great! So intimate! So emotional! I love this new take in the music—not epic, more introspective! Changed song order works really well. "Dog Eats Dog" not missed. Shortened "Turning" is great transition. Loved how this experience felt so NEW despite being so familiar with the material!

The film utilizes a lot of close up shots and puts a nice introspective spin on most of the music. It's fantastic! All the actors are great, and I wish Crowe was getting more press. While he is not vocally as strong as the others, he does great things with the score!

Reactions after about 12 hours of mulling it over: First off, you know it's good because I can't stop thinking about it, and I want to see it again! The introsepctive, conversational, quietly downplayed vocal stylings were refreshing in this adaptation. I never missed the bombastic Broadway-style belting. All in all, I'm excited that now I'll have a whole new take on the Les Miserables - Musical score. I like the film version for different reasons than I like the stage version, and the scores will appeal to me on different days for different reasons.

Qualms with the movie: Marius finally sold me on "Empty Chairs and Empty Tables." Until then, he sounds a little muppet-y.

Qualms with other people's posts about the movie: I like Russel Crowe's Javert because it was so rigidly static. Javert is perhaps one of the most unchanging characters ever written, and Crowe's voice and acting acumen captured that perfectly.

Houston, what do you think?