PEORIA -- How can it be that the film version of the Broadway musical Les Miserables has become controversial?
But that's what has happened, with a snide review in the New York Times as a prime example.
And this, from David Edelstein the NPR film critic: "what I saw on-screen was a transcendentally tasteless bombardment, an absolute horror show that in a just world would send people screaming from the theater."
Well, if some critics don't like it, they're wrong.
I saw Les Miserables as a holiday treat and it's terrific. It is what it is, a traditional costume drama with music, and it's beautifully filmed with skillful camera work and actors who can also sing, and sing well.
It's a 19th century Victor Hugo novel, done with 21st century technology. It works. The criticism -- weak singing, too much religion, too much grime -- isn't justified. All that is part of the story, and the film is well worth seeing.
I saw it in the Chicago suburbs, at a sold-out venue. We bought tickets in advance, on line, or we would not have gotten into the theater. We saw it as a digital production, the only way to see a film like this.
The audience applauded at the end.
Don't miss it.
-- Elaine Hopkins
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