Les Misérables
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An adaptation of the successful stage musical based on Victor Hugo's classic novel set in 19th-century France. Jean Valjean, a man imprisoned for stealing bread, must flee a relentless policeman named Javert. The pursuit consumes both men's lives, and soon Valjean finds himself in the midst of the student revolutions in France.
What critics thought
Tom Hooper's film lands somewhere between spectacle and ordeal depending on who you ask — the ensemble earns near-universal admiration, with Hathaway's 'I Dreamed a Dream' treated as an event unto itself, but Hooper's direction (crash-zooms, fisheye lenses, relentless close-ups) was a genuine fault line that split critics sharply. Russell Crowe's singing drew consistent disapproval, and the live-vocal experiment that the marketing foregrounded received a divided response, with some finding it raw and emotionally immediate and others finding it simply insufficient.
“his inability to leave any lily ungilded—to direct a scene without tilting or hurtling or throwing the camera around—is bludgeoning and deadly. By the grand finale, when tout le monde is waving the French tricolor in victory, you may instead be raising the white flag in exhausted defeat.”
Manohla Dargis·The New York Times
“The camera bobs and weaves like a drunk, frantically. So you have hammering close-ups, combined with woozy insecurity each time more than two people are in the frame. ...too little in this frenzied mess of a film registers because Hooper is trying to make everything register at the same nutty pitch.”
Michael Phillips·Chicago Tribune
“Even as a non-believer in this kind of "sung-through" musical, I was battered into submission by this mesmeric and sometimes compelling film ...”
Peter Bradshaw·The Guardian
“Hathaway gives it everything she has, beginning in quiet sorrow before building to a woebegone climax: she gasps, she weeps, she coughs. If you are blown away by the scene—as many will be; it will almost certainly earn Hathaway her first Oscar—this may be the film for you.”
Christopher Orr·The Atlantic
Accolades
Parents guide
- Violence
- moderate
- Sex
- moderate
- Profanity
- mild
- Substances
- mild
- Intensity
- moderate
Genres
Drama, Musical, Romance
Cast & Crew
Tom HooperDirector
Hugh JackmanJean Valjean
Russell CroweJavert
Amanda SeyfriedCosette
Anne HathawayFantine
Eddie RedmayneMarius Pontmercy
Sacha Baron CohenMonsieur Thénardier
Helena Bonham CarterMadame Thénardier
Aaron TveitEnjolras
Samantha BarksÉponine Thénardier
Daniel HuttlestoneGavroche
Fra FeeCourfeyrac
Hugh SkinnerJoly
Claude-Michel SchönbergComposer
Victor HugoWriter
William NicholsonWriter
Alain BoublilWriter
Danny CohenCinematographyFrom the studio
Les Misérables
An adaptation of the successful stage musical based on Victor Hugo's classic novel set in 19th-century France. Jean Valjean, a man imprisoned for stealing bread, must flee a relentless policeman named Javert. The pursuit consumes both men's lives, and soon Valjean finds himself in the midst of the student revolutions in France.
What critics thought
Tom Hooper's film lands somewhere between spectacle and ordeal depending on who you ask — the ensemble earns near-universal admiration, with Hathaway's 'I Dreamed a Dream' treated as an event unto itself, but Hooper's direction (crash-zooms, fisheye lenses, relentless close-ups) was a genuine fault line that split critics sharply. Russell Crowe's singing drew consistent disapproval, and the live-vocal experiment that the marketing foregrounded received a divided response, with some finding it raw and emotionally immediate and others finding it simply insufficient.
“his inability to leave any lily ungilded—to direct a scene without tilting or hurtling or throwing the camera around—is bludgeoning and deadly. By the grand finale, when tout le monde is waving the French tricolor in victory, you may instead be raising the white flag in exhausted defeat.”
Manohla Dargis·The New York Times
“The camera bobs and weaves like a drunk, frantically. So you have hammering close-ups, combined with woozy insecurity each time more than two people are in the frame. ...too little in this frenzied mess of a film registers because Hooper is trying to make everything register at the same nutty pitch.”
Michael Phillips·Chicago Tribune
“Even as a non-believer in this kind of "sung-through" musical, I was battered into submission by this mesmeric and sometimes compelling film ...”
Peter Bradshaw·The Guardian
“Hathaway gives it everything she has, beginning in quiet sorrow before building to a woebegone climax: she gasps, she weeps, she coughs. If you are blown away by the scene—as many will be; it will almost certainly earn Hathaway her first Oscar—this may be the film for you.”
Christopher Orr·The Atlantic
Accolades
Parents guide
- Violence
- moderate
- Sex
- moderate
- Profanity
- mild
- Substances
- mild
- Intensity
- moderate
Genres
Drama, Musical, Romance
Cast & Crew
Tom HooperDirectorHugh JackmanJean ValjeanRussell CroweJavertAmanda SeyfriedCosetteAnne HathawayFantineEddie RedmayneMarius PontmercySacha Baron CohenMonsieur ThénardierHelena Bonham CarterMadame ThénardierAaron TveitEnjolrasSamantha BarksÉponine ThénardierDaniel HuttlestoneGavrocheFra FeeCourfeyracHugh SkinnerJolyClaude-Michel SchönbergComposerVictor HugoWriterWilliam NicholsonWriterAlain BoublilWriterDanny CohenCinematographyFrom the studio
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