This film is so different to anything I have seen before. Superficially it’s a musical biopic of the circus impresario P.T. Barnum. However it’s not really about the story at all, and there’s very little dialogue. It’s built around the songs and the spectacular choreography and lighting. It doesn’t look “realistic” and it doesn’t even try to. Instead it presents a kind of hyper reality in which the colours are more colourful and the lights are brighter and deeper. There is a fairly heavy-handed message about embracing diversity, and in that sense this film could only have been made now. With these themes there’s no way it could have been produced even 10 years ago.
The songs are strong and it’s visually remarkable. Plus, Hugh Jackman is likeable in the central role – even if his character is given an almost Jesus-like level of idealisation. Michelle Williams is less impressive as his wife, mainly because she isn’t fleshed out as a character. You could argue that it’s emotionally shallow, but penetrating psychological drama is not what this film is about. Instead, it’s a big, loud, fast-moving in-your-face spectacle.
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