Anne Hathaway Owes Me $14

[henrikegerman]

Goth, judging Hathaway's I Dreamed A Dream in the context of the show, I might agree with you that she began the song where it ends. But it comes in the movie at a very different point in her life than it does in the show. Unlike in the show, she has already been, not only fired, but totally debased. Given all of that, the beginning of the song is a very different moment than it usually is. Had Hathaway performed the start of the song as it usually performed it would have been a flat out lie. She performs it in reference to the moment before the song starts as that moment was conceived for the film. And she's quite brilliant.

[PReeves2]

Gothampc, your posts make you seem envious and somewhat jealous of someone else's talents and successes. Unless you were on the set and able to know every detail of the directing and rehearsal process for the cast you are only able to post a bloggers review on a message board. Which is exactly what you have done, only you want yours to be more important so you started another opinion thread. IT was only a movie.

[Kad]

" I know it was the French Revolution.. but you are telling me no one was happy??"

Except it's not. In fact, the first thing we see on screen is text saying this isn't the French revolution.

[callitquits]

I did not have any issues with the movie centering around - as the title would seem to indicate! - the miserable... but I will say that while there may have been text saying the French Revolution had occurred years earlier, Tom Hooper/the screenwriter/whoever really did not help clear up this commonly held misunderstanding by adding a bit of dialogue where a French soldier yells "WHO'S THERE?!" and Enjolras responds "...THE FRENCH REVOLUTION!"

[Kad]

He actually just responds "French revolution."

But come on. The first thing you see in this film is text that all but says "THIS IS NOT THE FRENCH REVOLUTION." And then the film updates you on various dates that are further and further away from the French Revolution. And then characters reference how they have previously had a revolution. If people are still confused, I don't think they should be seeing movies.

[Gothampc]

henrikegerman, I understand what you're saying, but it doesn't make sense. We see her go through all this mess, fired, debased, becoming a prostitute, then she sings a song about it? "Life has killed the dream I dreamed". Well duh, we can see that.

There has to be progression within the song, otherwise why sing it? I didn't think that Anne Hathaway made any progress in the song. She starts crying and ends crying. The whole song is thin voice and trembling lip.

[StageManager2]

Kad, why didn't he just shout, "Revolution!" They're in France, after all. It seems a little redundant.

[Kad]

I don't know, I didn't write the line in.

[chrisampm2]

Gotham, you include a Beckett quote as part of all your posts. How much of a traditional arc is built into each of the roles he writes? Listen to LuPone in the original. She doesn't sound all that happy at the start.

I agree that there have to be shifts in any piece. The more, the better so long as they're subtle. The actor needs to play the given circumstances (which you seem to have forgotten). To me, the reason for the song, in this placement, is we witness the character's last ditch effort to fight tooth (oh those teeth) and nail for her survival. I thought Hathaway showed the death of a dream. I was moved by it.

[SpaceOpera]

Susan Boyle was better than Anne Hathaway.

Wait what are we talking about?

[sabrelady]

THERE Goth - DAT"S da singer that can do it bettah more than Hathaway. well fou YOU Ima shure!

[bobs3]

Anne Hathaway owes you NOTHING (and so what if you didn't like her, she is going to cry all the way to the bank with her percentage of the gross including your $14)!!!!

[themysteriousgrowl]

Goth, you are wrong... and always have been wrong.

[PalJoey]

This thread was worth $14 just because it introduced us to the truly funny Roo McGoo.

Bravoo, Roo!

[ticenewyorkcity]

I cannot thank Gothampc enough for the free acting lesson. I was looking into new class options but I've now been spared the trouble.

I've quickly learned all I need to know.

[jdtp12]

"She starts crying and ends crying. The whole song is thin voice and trembling lip."

Sure, she was in tears the whole time, but there was still progression in the song. She didn't sing the entire thing with the ferocity she sang lines like "..so different from this hell I'm living." She definitely built it up; it wasn't a one dynamic song, in my opinion.

[BroadwayBenny]

Sorry Goth, you're on your own, but you tried.

[Owen22]

"Lea Michele

Sutton Foster

Katharine McPhee"

Oh, no you di'unt!!!

[yankeefan7]

Actually, Crowe owes you $14 - lol. Like you said, he was wooden and I think it is safe to say does not have the singing voice to do the role justice. Jackman was fine, think he did a good job overall. The best voice of the whole movie IMO was Aaron Tveit.

[Movidude742]

So you saw the entire movie, you consumed it in its entirety and yet you want your money back? you were not so upset that you left early, there were no problems with the theater's sound system or projector, and you saw it all and you want your money back?

I don't think you understand how this system works

[Patash]

I understand this separate thread for such an inane discussion. There isn't enough room in any other thread to hold how much this poster doesn't understand -- about Les Miserables, about the film, or even about acting.

So she is at the bottom of the barrel when she starts singing, but because she is supposed to be remembering happier days, she should suddenly get back her strength and maybe skip around the street tossing flower petals in the air rather than show how truly defeated she is at the moment the song starts?

I'm sorry, the entire thing was way too subtle for you to understand and that you were unable to see any "development" in her emotions. Sometimes things shouldn't have to hit people over the head so they can see the emotional development -- smile here means you're happy, then cry to show you're sad. But clearly that's what you needed.

[beensince1987]

"Anne hits the emotional climax too early in the song and has no where to take it at the end. She's wringing tears through most of it."


Isn't that what Bernadette did with Losing My Mind in Follies? (At least one of the times I seen that show...)

[emida]

Roo, that youtube video was hilarious...

I must say that while I went into the theater wanting not to like Anne Hathaway, because I felt she was miscast, I ended up surprised at how good she was. Not how I always envisionned the character, but I think her interpretation was interesting and different. She was definitely one of the best things in the movie for me along with Samantha Barks, Eddie Redmayne, Aaron Tveit and the actor playing Gavroche.

I felt the only real weak link was Russell Crowe and even if I usually don't have too much trouble with actors singing in musicals, his voice was hard on my ears and his acting was as bad. Hugh Jackman was good, but his voice was sometimes grating. I loathed Bring Him Home... I was so uncomfortable during that whole scene... I felt he was better in the first part of the movie...

As for Amanda Seyfried, I don't mind her. I didn't love her or hated her, she was just there... but Cosette is such an uninteresting character that it would probably have been the same with any actress playing her... Little Cosette was good though!

[Playbilly]

I never say that another poster's comments are invalid. Except now. To quote Bugs Bunny, Goth, "You are a ment'al case!"

[OperaBwayLover]

Guys: Enjolras's line about the French Revolution comes straight from the book.