I usually don't post many films reviews...

here on my blog because the vast majority of them end up posted at the website I write for.  In case you weren't aware, that's www.TailSlate.net and feel free to check it out.

But today I saw Les Miserables and since another TailSlate critic is reviewing it for the site, I'm posting my own review here.

In 1985, the novel that is considered by many to be the greatest novel of the 19th Century became a stage musical.  It ran on Broadway for 16 years and is still the fourth longest running Broadway show in history.  Not long after it first hit the stage the process of bringing that musical to the big screen began.  This is not the first film version of Victor Hugo's novel, and it probably won't be the last.  Bear in mind that in English, the abridged version of this novel runs over 1,400 pages so there are things Hugo wrote that won't be in the movie.

"Jean Valjean" (Hugh Jackman) has spent 19 years as a slave in the galleys of France.  His crime was stealing a loaf of bread for which he was given a five year sentence.  The 14 additional years were added due to his numerous attempts to escape.  On the day he is paroled, Inspector Javert (Russell Crowe) forces him to do something that demonstrates Valjean's prodigious strength.  Then he is released, but his papers are yellow, marking him as an former prisoner.  He can't find anywhere to sleep or eat and winds up at the church in Digne.  There the Bishop offers him food and shelter, an act of kindness for which Valjean repays the Bishop by stealing the church's silver.  He is caught by the police and tells them that the Bishop had given the silver to him.  To his surprise, the Bishop confirms his story and insists that Valjean take the two silver candlesticks as well.  But before he takes his leave, Valjean is told by the Bishop that he must use the money realized from the sale of the silver to become an honest man.

Years later, living as Monseiur Madeleine, and serving as Mayor of Montreuil-sur-Mer, Valjean is also the owner of several businesses.  Fantine (Anne Hathaway) works in Madeleine's sewing business in order to pay to keep her daughter sheltered by a couple who own an inn.  When a dispute breaks out between Fantine and other women working there, Madeleine would have intervened but he is distracted by the presence of Inspector Javert.  He orders the foreman to handle the problem and he promptly fires Fantine.  Probably because she had spurned his advances.

Desperate, Fantine sells her hair and two teeth and winds up as a prostitute.  Madeleine, upon realizing his role in Fantine's downfall rescues her and promises to reunite her with her daughter.  But she dies before he can do this.  He resolves to raise Cosette (played as an adult by Amanda Seyfriend) himself and to keep her safe.

There is much more to the story, but that should be enough to whet your appetite.  Particularly if you've never read the novel.  I haven't read it since high school but the details poured back into my mind as I watched and listened to this wonderful movie.  The music was recorded live, rather than in the studio and in my mind this made a significant difference in the quality of the singing.  The emotion, the reality is astonishing.

The movie is a tad long, but considering how much story there is to tell, that wasn't surprising.  It is very beautiful to watch and if you've seen the musical on stage, you'll probably have to resist the temptation to join in with the familiar songs.  The aforementioned four main actors were terrific and so were the rest of the supporting cast.  There is high drama, some outstanding comedy and the packed auditorium broke into applause at the end.

The highest praise I can give a film is that either I want to see it again, or I want to read (or re-read) the source material.  In this case, I plan to do both.