"The Greatest Showman": Part Dream, Part Spectacle, All Heart
By The Entertainment Editorial Team
Back in the day, the movie musical was the genre in Hollywood. From "The Wizard of Oz" to "Singing in the Rain" to "West Side Story", the fans were lined up around the block to see their favorite stars dance and sing in dream-like sequences with a happy ending. These days... not so much. It's rare to see a film studio, especially a major one, put the money behind producing and marketing a film like the ones listed before. This is likely why, even with one of the biggest stars in the world today, it took almost a decade for Fox to release The Greatest Showman.
Image Courtesy of 20th Century Fox
THE STORY
The Greatest Showman stars Hugh Jackman (The X-Men Series, Les Misérables, The Prestige) as The Greatest Showman himself, P.T. Barnum. We open to see him as a poor tailor's son with a vision of something grander... for himself and the love of his life. After many failed jobs, he comes across an encounter that sparks an idea inside of him, an idea which turns into Barnum's American Museum. Though a disappointing investment at first, Barnum finds a group of outcasts that society has found as "freaks" and inspires them to reveal themselves into the world. Song and dance commence between the famous Bearded Lady to the Siamese Twins and many more, and Barnum's American Museum becomes a huge hit as Barnum's Circus.
Image Courtesy of 20th Century Fox
In order to continue his original goal of elevating his stature and gaining acceptance to New York's elite, Barnum meets his business partner, upperclass playwright, Philip Carlyle (Zac Efron). The young Carlyle acts like a protegé to Barnum and secures him a performance for Queen Victoria (yes, that Queen Victoria) and a chance meeting with England's greatest opera star, Jenny Lind (Rebecca Ferguson). What follows is the story of Barnum's continued downfall due to his own self-serving ego and a side story involving a forbidden romance between Carlyle and trapeze artist, Anne Wheeler (Zendaya). The ultimate lesson learned is one of redemption and realization that one's self worth is only dictated by what's the love in one's own heart.
THE CAST
Hugh Jackman is a treasure. He can act, sing, dance and provide the charisma it takes to be a true leading man. This was a true labor of love for him to get produced. (The man had surgery to remove cancer on his nose and still performed the next day in order to get the film green-lit.) Michelle Williams plays Jackman's leading lady and Barnum's wife, Charity. She provided a quite but strong performance and acted as the moral compass for Jackman's character. It's been a little while and a variety of other roles, but we finally got Zac Efron back in a musical. The end result? He hasn't missed a beat. His singing and dancing are still as on point as ever (Troy Bolton would indeed be proud). Zendaya plays Zac's love interest and counterpart in the film. Although one cannot deny her talent, she did nothing that really stood out amongst the incredibly talented cast, especially one that includes Rebecca Fergusson as Jenny Lind, and Keala Settle as the Bearded Lady.
The whole cast including the leads but especially the supporting members and background dancers were simply mesmerizing. One little-mentioned but completely deserving member of note is actually the singing voice for Rebecca Fergusson's character, Jenny Lind. The producers found singer, Loren Allred, who was tasked with providing the singing voice for Fergusson's performance of "Never Enough". It's a performance that truly deserves a standing ovation.
THE PRODUCTION
Equally as important as the talented cast are the incredibly talented people behind the scenes. The film was directed by Michael Gracey in his feature directorial debut. Though not a stranger to big sets, Gracey deserves much credit for crafting a film that is not without its faults but with pieces that overall work together to capture a dreamlike story about the importance of being true and proud to who you are. A big help to this vision is the breathtaking cinematography by Seamus McGarvey. A standout sequence included the moment Zac Efron and Zendaya's characters lock eyes for the first time. With music written by the Academy Award-winning team of Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (La La Land, Dear Evan Hansen), the songs in this film are the true stars. Almost every song, from "Never Enough" to "The Greatest Show" and ever inspiring "This is Me", provide the foundation for everyone to build upon.
THE CONCLUSION
The one problem The Greatest Showman faces is not taking the conflict as far as it needed to go to feel truly real. It's one thing to want to paint a dream-like story but epic stories need their characters to face epic conflict all the way through. Barnum's character never crossed the line and barely touched the depth of low in order to climb back up. We know how rampant racism was back in those days but the film merely touched on it. It's just not realistic. That's not to say that they can't escape an unfortunate fate but taking them through the most difficult of hardships only to see them succeed in the end is a whole lot more gratifying. It's more entertaining to see a hero win a battle against a fire-breathing dragon than it is to face a stubbed toe and come out on top. It makes the audience pull for the characters and invest themselves more personally in the story.
That being said, while not perfect by any means, the aforementioned pieces combine to form a lot of heart. From the songs to the performances to the cinematography, they make this a film worth seeing. It's not the greatest show but a very good one indeed.
The Greatest Showman is in theaters now.