4/5 Star Rating
After seven years in the making, The Greatest Showman is finally here! Directed by Michael Gracey (in his directorial debut) and inspired by the story of the well known entertainer P.T. Barnum, Hugh Jackman stars as the main man himself alongside an amazing cast including Michelle Williams, Zac Efron, Rebecca Ferguson and Zendaya.
Images courtesy of Google
Phineas Taylor Barnum experienced a childhood that was far from the lavish lifestyle that many others had known in America at the time. Especially compared to that of his childhood sweetheart Charity (Michelle Williams). As a child, Phineas Barnum and his father Philo (Will Swenson) served in the extravagant household of Charity and her parents which is how the two met. The beginning of the feature shows the progression of Barnum and Charity's relationship, leading it to blossom into marriage and having two beautiful daughters Caroline and Helen- who were brought to life by talented young actresses Austyn Johnson and Cameron Seely. There is a scene within this segment of the film which can very much be likened to that of Baz Lurman's Moulin Rouge from 2001. This was where Jackman and Willams' characters could be seen dancing, singing and looking lovingly into each other's eyes on a rooftop of the building in which they reside. No matter what else this scene may have been inspired by, it's visually stunning and showcased a brilliant on screen chemistry between the two actors.
As the story progresses, Jackman's Barnum is unfortunately left unemployed, leaving him and his family in financial turmoil. Thankfully due to the wondrous imagination of the character, the P. T. Barnum Museum is born. He begins his new venture by adding in peculiar artwork and waxwork figures to the museum in an attempt to bring in business to once again restore his family's household income. He and his family work tirelessly in an attempt to promote the new business, but with no avail. This is when oldest daughter Caroline (Johnson) shares an idea with her father stating that he needs real and living things "like a mermaid" within his museum and youngest daughter Helen (Seely) suggesting maybe adding a "unicorn" to the mix. These imaginative suggestions ignite a spark for Phineas to go on the search for extraordinary people to expand his business. At this point in the film is when we meet these amazing characters. We are introduced to the most tattooed man, the Irish giant, the heaviest man and more. Although the main focus on this odd bunch are that of The Tiny General, Tom Thumb (Sam Humphrey), The Bearded Lady/Lettie Lutz (the fantastic Keala Settle) and brother and sister trapeze duo Anne and W.D. Wheeler (Zendaya and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II)
Click on the video link above to hear the cast perform the full version of "The Greatest Show" from the film's official soundtrack - courtesy of YouTube and Atlantic Records.
With this intriguing new line up, Barnum faces plenty of backlash for putting these odd figures in the spotlight and promoting them for being different. Some also looked at him for doing something inspirational and admirable. James Gordon Bennett (Paul Sparks)- An over critical reviewer for the local newspaper even goes as far to call Barnum's oddities "a circus". Which inspires the entertainer further more to change his business venture from a museum to, of course, a circus extravaganza, turning these peculiar people into stars.
Later, the audience are also introduced to is Zac Efron's Phillip Carlyle. The upper class writer later becomes Barnam's young protégé/apprentice after a very well choreographed bar scene between Jackman and Efron, P.T. is trying to convince the young Phillip to join him to be a part of a promising business deal. It is said that Efron's character is not based on a real person, unlike Hugh Jackman's Barnum. Apparently both Phillip Carlyle and trapeze artist Anne Wheeler (portrayed by Disney stars Efron and Zendaya) are not characters based upon real people. The two fictional characters were simply written in just to add another element to the film - their love story.
The romance between Phillip and Anne is not a straight forward path for the two. He comes from a high class family within the community and she is seen as a nobody being a circus performer. Very Romeo and Juliet like, the couple's emotions for one another are highly frowned upon in society. This shows the struggles that the pair face in order to maintain a romantic relationship. The two actors actually work very well together on screen which is great to see especially as they are both previous Disney stars. Zac Efron began his career when starring in High School Musical alongside Vanessa Hudgens. Zendaya is known for her appearances in the TV shows Good Luck Charlie and Shake it up! Both on the Disney Channel. But her biggest casting role to date is working alongside Tom Holland in Spiderman: Homecoming as she portrays the role of Michelle (Possibly MJ). The most memorable moment for Efron and Zendaya's characters in the film, is when the couple are questioning their relationship while swinging high on ropes and singing the very beautiful "Rewrite The Stars". Which in my opinion is the best single from the soundtrack.
I need to mention the amazing soundtrack for this film. I find that the music has to be really consistent for me to be able to be a fan of the entire album. The last soundtrack album that I genuinely really loved was 'Awesome Mix Vol.1' from Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy. Not because it featured music that I would normally enjoy, but for the fact that it just worked in with the film so well. The Greatest Showman's soundtrack completely blew that out of the water! This film would be nothing without its original songs by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. As expected with a musical soundtrack, the album features all the songs from the film which are performed by the cast. We all knew that Zac Efron, Hugh Jackman and Zendaya had amazing voices as we have seen them perform on screen before. Although it has been quite a while since Efron and Jackman have performed in those roles from High School Musical and Les Misérables. The voice that really stood out for myself and I'm sure many others, belongs to the very talented Keala Settle who plays the role of The Bearded Lady within Barnum's famous 'freak show'. She is absolutely phenomenal! The actress clearly has the strongest vocals from the cast and is even put into the spotlight when performing the empowering and inspirational "This Is Me" in the film. I thoroughly enjoyed every single performance within the film. Each one showcased an amazing song and plenty of energy and emotion which would not be possible without the this cast.
The creators of The Greatest Showman had to make sure that the casting choices were ideal to pull off 'The Greastest Show On Earth'. The film did not disappoint here. Hugh Jackman could not have been more perfect for the role of P.T Barnum. He totally pulled the whole thing together. His enthusiasm for the role was very clear. It was obvious he had put every effort into this character. A character that was not only known as the greatest entertainer to ever live, but who is also known to have a much darker side when it came to his circus by mistreating animals (which was not seen in the film) from his show and letting his ambition block his judgement of reality.
The film has been criticised by many for not portraying the darker side of the famous showman. Although writers of the film did include the story of his struggles when it came to the strain on his relationship with his wife Charity (Williams) after meeting and touring with famous opera singer Jenny Lind (Rebecca Ferguson). She is the last of the main characters that is shown to the viewers of the film. Barnum met Lind during a visit to see Queen Victoria in England to proudly promote the stars of his show. He found Jenny Lind (who was originally from Stockholm, Sweden as is Ferguson who portrays her) fascinating and invited her to America with him to put her on centre stage where Ferguson gives a stunning performance in the role singing "Never Enough". Over time Lind falls for Jackman's lead character and kisses him in front of a filled auditorium, where the press is also present. This leads to photos of them sharing an intimate moment spreading to papers for all to see. Including his family. There are some other tough moments for the showman seen in the film, but I won't go into them all and spoil it for those who have yet to see the feature.
The only niggle I have with Rebecca Ferguson's character was that she was introduced a well known opera singer across Europe. When she performs in the film, her vocals do not stand out as that of an operatic singer. Maybe opera was different back in those times so it's not something I will focus on too much.
Click on the video link above to see Rebecca Ferguson perform "Never Enough" taken from the film. Courtesy of YouTube and Atlantic Records
There is one more complaint that I do have about the movie. In the trailer Hugh Jackman's character says "Whoever made a difference by being like everyone else?" This is one of the key points to the film. And I don't recall this being said in the final theatrical version of the film. Unless it was just our cinema that had cut it out perhaps? But it was the one part of the film I had purposely made sure that I had noticed. And unfortunately it just wasn't there.
To watch the official trailer for The Greatest Showman click on the video link above. Courtesy of YouTube.
The Greatest Showman certainly has a lot to offer. Even though the film appears to rely quite heavily on CGI, with high energy musical numbers, plenty of drama, a number one soundtrack album, three Golden Globe nominations and a fantastic cast, it cannot disappoint. It was definitely one of the top releases of 2017 for me. As I left the cinema, I stated "I already want to watch it all again".