Les Misérables (Hooper, 2012)
The musical has kind of been on life support for a while. Yeah, I hear it is thriving in Bollywood to an extent, but even Disney has strayed from full on musicals in favor of more 'traditional' narratives in recent years. Sure every so often one may pop up (though it does kind of feel like forever since
Nine hit the scene as the last major musical), but none seem to have come with the same type of fanfare or excitement attached to Tom Hooper's adaptation of
Les Misérables. As one of the most beloved musicals of all time (or so I'm told), the Academy Award winning best director attempts to bring a bombastic sense of this sprawling tale of injustice and revolution to the big screen. Yet, following up the middling
The Damned United and the irritating
The King's Speech with such revered material leaves me wondering if Hooper has bitten off more than he can chew.
