Les Misérables Review: Crowe’s Singing Ruins a Visually Ambitious Musical

Les Misérables is a musical about a man who spends 19 years in prison, a girl whose father sells her to pay off his debts, and a barricade that holds for a single night. That’s a lot of material to squeeze into three hours. The 2012 film version, directed by Tom Hooper, tries to do it by singing through the whole thing, with actors lip-syncing to recorded tracks. It’s a bold choice, and it mostly fails.

The film is faithful to Victor Hugo’s novel in spirit. Jean Valjean, played by Hugh Jackman, is a convict who breaks parole, steals a loaf of bread to feed his sister’s starving children, and spends the rest of his life trying to outrun the policeman Javert, played by Russell Crowe. Along the way he takes a factory job, becomes mayor of a town, adopts a girl named Cosette, and falls in love with a girl named Fantine, whose death drives him to leave everything behind. The final act shifts to the streets of Paris, where a group of students led by Marius (Eddie Redmayne) build a barricade and fight for a republic that doesn’t exist yet. It’s a grim story, and the film doesn’t soften it.

Trailer, via LesMiserablesFilm.

The Singing

The biggest problem is the singing. Hooper wanted to capture the raw emotion of opera, so he asked the cast to perform live on set, then recorded the music separately and mixed it in later. The result is a constant hum of audio that doesn’t match the picture. Jackman sounds fine, but Crowe’s voice is a disaster. He can’t hit the high notes, and his Javert sings like a man who swallowed a tuning fork. The scene where Javert falls from the bridge is meant to be tragic, but it plays like a joke because Crowe’s voice is so out of tune.

The barricade scenes are the best in the film.

The Cast

Jackman carries the movie. He’s physically imposing as Valjean, and he brings a weary dignity to the role. His rendition of “Bring Him Home” is genuinely moving, even if the song itself is overlong. Anne Hathaway plays Fantine as a broken woman who loses everything, and her performance is the reason she won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. Her rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream” is a highlight, though the song is padded with repetition.

Russell Crowe is a good actor, but he’s miscast here. Javert is a man of principle, and Crowe plays him as a rigid fanatic, but the character’s complexity gets lost in the film’s rush to judgment. The romance between Marius and Cosette is handled quickly, with Amanda Seyfried playing Cosette as a blank slate who exists to be rescued. Eddie Redmayne gives Marius some warmth, but the chemistry between the two characters never quite clicks.

The Look

The film looks expensive. The costumes are lavish, the sets are grand, and the lighting is dramatic. The opening shot of Valjean being released from prison, with the sun rising behind the gates, is beautiful. The scene where Valjean rescues the prostitute who saved him as a prisoner is staged with restraint, and it works. The set pieces are big, but they’re also busy. The crowd scenes in the barricade scenes are chaotic, and the camera often loses sight of the actors.

The Music

The songs are the problem. Cameron Mackintosh’s production of the musical is famous for its grand scale, and the film tries to replicate that. The songs are long, repetitive, and they often go on past their welcome. “Do You Hear the People Sing?” is a powerful anthem, but it’s repeated twice in the film, and the second time feels like padding. “On My Own” is a ballad that should be tender, but Hathaway’s delivery is theatrical rather than intimate. The finale, “Finale,” is a medley that runs for ten minutes and recycles the same melodies.

The Weak Scenes

Some scenes are flat. The scene where Valjean meets the bishop who forgives him is rushed, and the bishop’s kindness feels like a plot device rather than a character moment. The scene where Valjean saves the prostitute is better, but it’s undercut by the film’s insistence on showing the prostitute’s death in graphic detail. The student leader Enjolras, played by Aaron Tveit, is a fan favorite in the stage show, but he’s underwritten here. His big speech about the republic is reduced to a few lines, and the film loses its focus.

The Strengths

The film isn’t a total failure. There are moments that work. The scene where Valjean finds Cosette in the snow after Fantine dies is heartbreaking. The scene where Valjean and Javert meet on the road is tense. The scene where Valjean tells Cosette about her mother is quiet and effective. These scenes succeed because they’re grounded in the actors’ performances rather than the music.

The barricade scenes are the best in the film. The camera captures the chaos, the blood, and the fear. The students sing and fight with genuine conviction. The scene where Enjolras is killed is brutal, and it earns its weight. The film’s final image of Valjean walking away from the barricade is a quiet ending that respects the story.

The Verdict

Les Misérables is a mess. It’s a film that wants to be both a musical and a drama, and it can’t decide which one to be. The singing is uneven, the pacing is slow, and the story is stretched thin. But there are moments of real power, and the film is visually striking. It’s a flawed adaptation of a great story.

Here’s how the film’s major elements rank:

1. The acting — Jackman, Hathaway, and Redmayne are excellent.
2. The visual style — the sets and costumes are impressive.
3. The barricade scenes — the action is intense and well-shot.
4. The music — the songs are too long and too repetitive.
5. The pacing — the film drags in the middle.
6. The Javert storyline — Crowe’s performance is a liability.

The film is worth seeing for the performances and the spectacle, but it’s not a great film. It’s a big, ambitious, and mostly unsuccessful attempt to bring a beloved musical to the screen. The story deserves better. The songs deserve better. The actors deserve better.

The film’s score is 6.3 out of 10.

Hugh Jackman · Les Misérables · musical film · Russell Crowe · Tom Hooper