Les Misérables

On Boxing Day, after much anticipation on Christmas Day, my sister and I did our chores like the good teenage daughters we are, and then we went to go and see the movie we had been waiting for: Les Misérables!!! 

My sister and I are musical junkies: we have seen them live, acted in them, read the books some are adapted from, have most soundtracks on our iPods, and I plan to make a career out of it, if that tells you anything. Les Misérables is one of our absolute FAVORITES and when we heard there was going to be a movie adaptation earlier this year......well, of course we had to go! 

Our original plan, before the opening days were changed for the film, was to go and see the midnight showing on the day it was originally supposed to open, December 7th. Then it got moved to December 14th, and our plans still didn't change, but then The Hobbit had to ruin our plans and Les Mis got pushed to Christmas Day. Now, of course we weren't going to see it on the holiday, that would be silly! So we settled for the next best thing, the day after. 

We got to the movie theater forty minutes early, got our tickets, then had to wait in line to enter the theater as the previous showing was just leaving and there were TONS of people. Once we got into the actual theater, my sister and I headed to the back row, where we could quietly deal with our emotions as the movie went on, as to not distract other moviegoers. But, in typical fashion, the movie started and we were squished in next to a woman who was on her phone throughout the movie and a couple who was, shall we say, very affectionate with each other as the trailers started and the movie started.  

Well, the movie started and my sister and I grabbed each other and started shrieking like the fangirls we are. We were just so excited!! 

As to not ruin it for anyone, here are my pros and cons of the movie, based on my standards: 

Pros  
-Hugh Jackman (for the most part) 
-Anne Hathaway 
-Samantha Barks (I've always though she was a wonderful Éponine, since I saw her in the 25th Anniversary Concert) 
-Amanda Seyfried (for the most part) 
-Colm freakin' Wilkinson (as the Bishop of Digne!!!) 
-EDDIE REDMAYNE 
-EDDIE REDMAYNE 
-EDDIE REDMAYNE 
-Aaron Tveit (the quintessential Enjolras. He was literally perfect and acted the heck out of his role. My other two favorites are Ramin Karimloo and Jeremy Hays.) 
-Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter (they were bawdy, crude, and perfect. Sacha Baron Cohen exceeded my expectations and went above and beyond). 
-THE FRIENDS OF THE ABC (HOLY LORD SOMEBODY HOLD ME) 
-Daniel Huttlestone (He embodies the word 'precious'. Aaron Tveit is quoted as saying, "I want to grow up and be like Daniel".) 
-The sets and visual effects, they were amazing!! 
-The finale!!!  
-Hadley Fraser (the Easter egg of the movie. He shines bright like the diamond he is).
-Hadley Fraser's mustache. (what contributed to the whole Easter egg factor). 


Cons 
-Russell Crowe (it should have been Norm Lewis. SHOULD HAVE BEEN. However, his death was quite epic.) 
-Hugh Jackman during Bring Him Home. He was definitely struggling. 
-They decided to omit some parts of songs to have less screen time in the movie. I thought this was an entirely stupid decision on the whole. 



As the movie ended and the lights went up, you would have thought I needed to be carted off to the mental ward, based on my actions. I was shaking and crying into my sleeve and my sister was a mess: sobbing into her hands and not being able to talk, so much that people were asking if she was okay. 

As we walked out of the theater, all I could say was "Wow". The movie was really, really, really great. I don't really think I would have loved it any more than I do now if it had been done any other way. It exceeded expectations, thanks to the vision of Tom Hooper, and he did not disappoint the millions of Les Mis fans around the world. 

Cheers to him, and hopefully, this movie will have a successful awards season. As it should!!! 

Happy New Year! (one day more.....)