"It's a period flick with Russell Crowe during the French Revolution. You'll love it."

"Umm, but it's also a musical and all set to an orchestra and singing," she whispers in her tiniest voice.

Okay.

So I just saw the movie version of Les Miserables. Lucky for Harry, the anti-musical man, that statement above was just the hypothetical version I was going to unleash if no one else would go with me. This evening I saw it with my mom and my sister. Yay!

At first I was rather neutral on the whole thing. Certainly not gung ho enough to run out and see it during the holiday rush. But then I heard Hugh Jackman giving an interview on television a few weeks back where he almost broke down crying as he stated that every single role he has had as an actor up until now has been preparing him for this part.

Dang, Hugh.

Well. That was enough to get me intrigued enough to tough the Christmas crowds. That and the fact that Hugh Jackman is . . . . uh. . .hot. Hellerrr?

So what did I think? I'll be completely honest. I just loved it. Seriously and completely loved it. That's saying a lot considering the way I feel about most on screen musicals. Most of them come out awkward to me. They give you the taste of the songs that you've been craving, yet everything else seems weird. You know. Where you sit through it until the end because you're hoping that it will eventually get better but it doesn't.

This wasn't like that. It was done beautifully. The voices were amazing and that Hugh Jackman? Just damn.

And speaking of amazing. . . . Miss Anne Hathaway? Baby, she earned her name on that billboard, do you hear me? As the sistas say in the hair salon: "Girlfriend, you DID that." Yeah she did.

So word on the street is that all of the singing was LIVE. As in, they had an earpiece in their ear playing the (live) accompaniment and they just had to go for it. Don't believe me? Watch this little snippet on the topic.

Kinda cool, right? That piece of information is what has given me a whole new respect for the film. And for Anne Hathaway. She sang her face off, y'all. Just amazing. I mean--we all knew Jackman could sing, but Anne? That was a shocker.

I'm also always intrigued by women who whack all of their hair off for movie roles. Something about that is just so bad ass to me. Two thumbs way up for Miss Anne Hathaway, chile.

Yeah.

Russell Crowe wasn't so bad either. Although anyone who has to sing anywhere near Hugh Jackman seems a little less than. Just saying. But that could just be me looking at Hugh Jackman and forgetting about any and everybody else. Even if that person is Russell Crowe.

The kid actors were fantastic, too. The young Cosette--unbelievable and the little boy who played Gavroche (the revolution kid) was out of this world. So were all of the supporting cast, many of whom weren't big screen stars in the U.S. but very accomplished singer/actors before this ever hit theaters.

Yeah. Loved Les Miserables on big screen. And would totally see it again on an IMAX screen if I get the chance. Stacy H. or Lesley M., I'll need one of you to join me for that. Because let me tell you who WON'T be joining me:

-------> Mr. Harry Manning.

(laughing out loud right now)

Dude. Have I ever told y'all about the time that I tricked The BHE into seeing the movie adaptation of RENT with me? Lawd! He was soooo mad at me. Wait. . . as a matter of fact I have told you about that before. I just found the post where I mentioned this EPIC failure--and ironically that same post includes the Les Miserables "One Day More" flashmob that I was obsessed with earlier this year. Remember that? (Now I'm obsessed with it again since I just rewatched and reread that.) For some fun and time-wasting, peep that post here.

"One day mooooooorrrre!"

Awesome. Just for kicks, I was thinking of tricking Harry into seeing the Les Mis movie by casually suggesting it on our next date night. Hee hee. Calling it, like I said above, "The new Russell Crowe film." Bwaah ha. That, I'm sure, would get him into the closest theater with a bucket of popcorn, some Junior Mints and a large coke. Dude. The BHE absolutely LOVES Russell Crowe movies and has watched Gladiator no less than seven hundred and fifty seven trillion times. With Russell Crowe, this would be the easiest trick EVER. That and the fact that it involves a bloody war scene.

I could even innocently add on something like, "I think the dude from Wolverine is in it, too. I hear it's some kind of period war flick or something."

Oh. Have I mentioned how much Harry LOOOOVES a good period war flick? Good heavens he does.

*rubbing hands together with diabolical laugh*

Damn. That would be pret-ty darn funny if I did get him to see this movie. I mean. . . the very IDEA of the expression that would be on his face when his beloved Gladiator and Wolverine start busting out in song--like full on fluffy high and low note song for an ENTIRE FILM-- would be worth the 74% chance I'd risk of being served with divorce papers afterward.

To which I'd say:

"ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?!?!"

Bwaaaahh hahaha.

Man. I am totally thinking of tricking him with this the next time he blasts me with a series of rhetorical questions. Maybe even in IMAX. Oh yeah, baby.

Heh.

By the way, here's an old post I was just reminded of from one of our movie date nights. This describes how Harry goes about choosing the flick we'll see when it's his turn to select.

Sigh. "The new Russell Crowe period flick about a war." Ha.

But I digress.

Listen. The take home point is: If you LOVE yourself a good musical and salivate at the thought of catching one on Broadway, peep this one out for sure. In the theater even--it's worth the ten bucks. Trust me, it's not as uncomfortable as the RENT movie or the Mamma Mia one. It's really beautifully done.

One recommendation though: Make sure you're well rested because it's kind of long. Like close to three hours long so make sure you are awake and that it's not too late at night. And that you really like musicals because three hours worth of singing is a lot if you are kind of "meh" on musicals--AND this is a sho nuff, for real musical. Not like Grease or High School Musical where there's mostly talking and occasional show tune. This joint is 99.2% show tunes which my husband absolutely, positively would not be cool with.

What about y'all? Who's seen this already? And tell me--what person could you NO NOT NEVER take to see such a film?

***
Happy Wednesday.

And now playing on my mental iTouch. . . the trailer from Les Miserables with Anne Hathaway belting out her dreamy voice.