Amph Les Misérables movie

Well, I know there are several movies where he's reportedly given great performances, but I still really have only seen him in Psycho, so I didn't have much frame of reference. And he just seems so "modern" if you will. I wasn't sure how he would do in a period piece.

It's a shame the Valjean in that one was so dull. Was it Richard Jordan? He was pretty awful, as memory serves.

 

I don't even remember. But yeah Perkins got stuck in a lot of stupid killer roles that didn't suit him at all, but he also managed to still get some other good roles. Just not as many as he should have. Pretty Poison is one of my favs... but I'm sure you know my good opinion of him.

 

I thought it was good, but with caveats. Aside from the already mentioned over use of closeups, I really didn't care for the Cosette/Marius romance. The reason being is that Seyfried does a good job, but she's stuck with a character that has as much depth as a piece of cardboard.

 

I've never seen the Liam Neeson/Geoffrey Rush version of this..it's my understanding that it cut out at least most of the romance storyline, as it ends with Javert's suicide.

I felt the marriage portion was more there to get us to Valjean's death scene more than anything else, TBH.

 

I think all of the film versions I've seen cut out the wedding/Marius turns against Valjean/death bed stuff. It feels a little anti-climactic in a movie. Except in this new one where it works because of the power of the music.

 

Yeah there's only so much you can do with Cosette. She's really more of a MacGuffin than a character.

 

Spoiler

Given what happened at Sandy Hook, I'm surprised that Hooper was allowed to keep in Gavroche's death scene.

 

That hadn't even occurred to me, and I'm glad they didn't do that. It's a powerful part of the story and makes an important point about the brutal nature of the conflict.

 

I looked at the summary's of the past Les Miserables movies and couldn't believe they would end them at Javert's suicide. I mean what? That's dumb

 

Eh...meh. They kept 'The Two Towers' as a movie title right after 9/11.

 

How would they change that? Two Towers is the title of the book

 

Just saying-there's an obvious dubious association there. It's the same thing with a scene written in a book over a century ago. Has nothing to do with current events whatsoever.

 

Freaking awesome movie. No issues at all with any of the complaints re close-ups or Stars or cinematography. Loved the close-ups.

Only thing that annoyed me was Cosette's high voice. Nasty grating tone.

Apart from that, perfection!

 

Cosette's SUPPOSED to have a ridiculously high voice.

 

That's because it's the Two Towers, not the Twin Towers; Orthanc and Barad-dur are not look-alikes or adjacent to one another.

 

I know. Child being shot by government troops in 1830s France does not equate to psychotic massacring children in 2012, either.

 

Spoiler

I always hated Marius turning against Valjean. He's going to be his father-in-law! And he never did anything to indicate that he wanted anything but for Marius and Cosette to be happy together. Marius only wants him around when he learns that Valjean saved him. As Cosette's father, he's apparently a burden..

 

Spoiler

fwiw I always thought Marius came off like a punk...yes Marius a 70-year-old man carrying you on your shoulders through sewer tunnels is kinda emasculating isn't it

 

I don't really understand either of those comments. I have never thought of Marius as a punk in the play, and I didn't think he ever 'rejected' Valjean either. I always just viewed it as him just being unaware of what Valjean had done.

 

I don't think Musical!Marius turns against Valjean. Valjean begs him to keep Cosette away and Marius reluctantly agrees because he understands Valjean's reasoning. I seem to recall Book!Marius as actually rejecting Valjean and coming across as more of a jerk at the end, but I could be remembering it wrong.

I wouldn't consider him a punk either. Just boring. And utterly and completely oblivious.

 

I felt like Eddie Redmayne presented one of the most sympathetic versions of Marius I've seen, actually. I really liked him. Hooper deserves some credit for putting in moments such as Marius almost blowing up the barricade which allowed me to feel like this was a genuinely principled and brave young man, not just a lovesick dweeb as he sometimes comes across.

 

Spoiler

I think he was unaware, but I also think he seemed a little cold and eager for Valjean to go, not reluctant.

Different interpretations, I suppose.

 

Eddie was the only person who got me to cry in the movie with Empty Chairs. He was awesome.

 

What part are you referring to specifically?

(Also, why are we using spoiler tags? )