ACADEMY AWARDS: BEST PICTURE # 4: LES MISERABLES

LES MISERABLES  ***1/2 out of ****

I liked this film.  I wanted to love it.  Perhaps if my expectations had not been so high, I may have received even more favorably, but damn, did I like what I saw in the marketing.  I have never seen the musical live onstage nor was I already a devotee of the musical, so in that respect, I cannot judge it's merits as an adaptation, however, I am familiar with previous incarnations of the story by Victor Hugo.  My only major complaint toward the film is one that may have its source in the stage musical adaptation; that is, the pace was too fast.  It is an odd complaint, but I felt there were various plot where the film breezed on by while I would have preferred more time and pondering upon certain characters and their struggles.  Though there are a few parts where I felt this way, the most particular was the character of Fantine (Anne Hathaway), who was plainly the most "miserable" character but also the most interesting.  Hathaway's performance is the film's trump card, as she evokes tears from the staunchest hearts with her raw rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream", but her character is gone by the conclusion of the first act, not to return until an encore in the finale.  Meanwhile, some characters are given undue attention, most specifically, the Thenadiers (Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter), who are an amusing bit, but well overdrawn.  Cosette (Amanda Seyfried) is also shortchanged in screen time, this to the detriment of the story when the major events rely so heavily on her presence in the audience's mind.  Despite my disappointment, it should be noted that my opinion is still a favorable one. 
This movie musical epic possesses a uniquely almost naturalized form of spectacle, and the positive influence from the original source of Hugo's novel is plainly apparent in the full-bodied display of human emotion and moral dilemma.  When it gives them the chance, the film gets great traction from its cast, especially Hathaway, as aforementioned, and from newcomer Samantha Barks as the lovelorn Eponine, who steals the second half of the film.  Some fuss has been made over Russell Crowe's lack of singing talent, but that wasn't much of an issue in my mind considering director Tom Hooper's insistence on a "recitativo" approach to the vocals, wherein the singing adopts the rhythms of ordinary speech, as opposed to the more usual bravura singing in similar movie musical. 
One point I think worth adding, is that, whilst I cannot speak for elsewhere, here in ultra-conservative Utah, the die-hard fans of musicals and most everyone else have such a powerful adoration for this emotionally-driven story of the downtrodden in society, a plea for social mercy, welfare, moral understanding; a story of "class warfare" and the struggle to survive in a morally-absolute society.  It's yet another example of how previously set emotional attachments will trump the obvious every time.