to think that Russell Crowe is really not that bad in Les Mis?

[Lottapianos]

Just back from seeing the film and I LOVED IT! I saw the stage show about 10 years ago and it was great hearing all the songs again. I thought all the singers were absolutely fabulous apart from Russell Crowe - but I had been led to believe he was a total disaster and massacred all the songs. I thought he did fine - apart from 'Stars' which was a real disappointment (such a beautiful song). He really looked the part and super hunky in his lovely uniform. I don't think he disgraced himself with his singing at all. He was hardly Pierce Brosnan in Mamma Mia

Thought Hugh Jackman's voice was about 90% great, a few wobbles though. The start of 'Bring Him Home' was not good.

I'm a fan of the stage show and felt a bit nervous going in to see the film. I wondered if I'd leave the cinema thinking "why didn't they just leave it alone?" But, I LOVED it!

It is though, an entirely different medium. I think some of the singing was fairly muted, and by that I mean, the very OTT delivery for stage, made necessary by the fact that the audience is some distance way, would have been too too much, up close on camera, in a cinema.

I thought it an excellent cast. Eddie Redmayne and Anne Hathaway being closest (for me) to standout good singers. Russell Crowe (and the man is HOT! No dispute there) was IMO oddly cast, in the Javert role. But, he was being a screen actor, "doing a musical" and he portrayed the essence of the man's "being", his lifelong cause, to find Jean Valjean, really really well. The voice? Not so good.

My biggest disappointment was Sacha Baron Cohen. Ternadier is a weasely little man. Sacha's accent was all over the place and he just wasn't "him", for me.

Overall, I thought it fabulous.

Yes, Marius...no one really likes a champagne socialist though do they? ARF

I agree Elphaba RC stops acting when he's singing and that is where it all goes to pants, because if he acted through you wouldn't focus on the notes. It felt very much like he went 'shit, got to sing now, what's the notes again, la la la la LAAA.' Whereas having now listened to Bring Him Home again, yes, the singing isn't as great as I thought it was when I saw it in the cinema, but because HJ was acting every syllable of it I didn't notice.

But... We still LOVE Russell Crowe, don't we?!

Russell Crowe has never done anything for me personally,though the uniform was rather nice.

I do think certain musicals or certain roles within musicals do require good singers. Valjean and Javert are two that do imho,and if I saw Russell Crowe and Hugh Jackman on stage playing those parts I wouldn't be a happy bunny,but they worked well in the film.
Good acting and good voices aren't mutually exclusive,it's possible to have both,but I think HJ and RC were good enough for the film,and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed their performances. They made it work imho.

I hated the Thernardiers too.MOH was awful,and much too vulgar.HBC was playing HBC and I'm not too sure what SBC's accent was supposed to be.It wasn't what I'd call French,perhaps 'Allo' Allo' French.

Wasn't SBC dropping in and out of a French accent deliberately for comedic effect?

Possibly,if you can call that a French accent,but it didn't work imho.It just sounded bad.

I agree. SBC was not good, in this role. And as much as I'm a big Helena Bonham Carter fan, I think she was subdued... Madame T is not a role for subtlety!

Aw i liked SBC and even more surprisingly i saw him do some promotional interviews for it and the man is very attractive .....i have never noticed that before!!

I've already posted this on the other Les Mis thread,but I need more people to share my pain.

I've just watched Phillip Quast as a children's tv presenter on Playschool,and I think some serious counselling may be required. .He does a very nice cat impression,but his frog impression may be even better.

Ha! I'm an Aussie so I grew up with Philip Quast on Playschool. It was weird seeing him do anything else (including Javert) for quite a while!

Lucky you.Getting to see Mr Quast every morning.
He does an excellent rendition of I'm A Little Teapot. Seeing him in Playschool certainly brings a new meaning to the words 'You know nothing of Javert!'.

I have a feeling that I'm going to spend my evening watching Philip Quast clips on Youtube.I'm watching him in Brides of Christ now.I have an urge to pinch his cheeks.He's so cute.