I finally got around to seeing Les Miserables, and, ughhh, so good. I mean, OK, there were less-than-great parts. I didn't love Hugh Jackman's singing voice, which made certain moments (Bring Him Home, ugh) somewhat unbearable. But his acting was stupendous and some of his early songs were phenomenal because he wasn't necessarily supposed to sound great anyway. What Have I Done? really left an impression. I was meh on Russell Crowe; perhaps because I went in with such low expectations, I found him to be not so terrible and somewhat capable of carrying a tune, but the big problem with him was that I just wasn't convinced he had it in him to both act and sing at the same time. Still, even he had a few good moments. Anne Hathaway deserves an Oscar for I Dreamed a Dream, which was a revelation, truly. I didn't actually think she was that great otherwise -- good in At the End of the Day and Lovely Ladies, but hamming it up way too much in her death scene. I just couldn't with that whole bit. But, seriously, I'd still give her an award just for the two minutes of I Dreamed a Dream because that song was so powerful and, just, really a remarkably different take on a song/scene that can often be a bit too schmaltzy. Plus, putting it right after Lovely Ladies (instead of before) was honestly a very smart move; well done on that, Tom Hooper slash whoever made that decision.

The big surprises for me were Eddie Redmayne as Marius and Amanda Seyfried as Cosette. Hello characters I never previously gave a shit about. But in this version, we see all the good and bad of Marius, all the things that make him brave and lovely, all the things that make him a little spoiled. And even though Redmayne wasn't always great (his voice sounded a bit like Kermit the Frog at times), his take on Empty Chairs at Empty Tables was a real stand-out. And Cosette! She had very little screen time, but Amanda Seyfried sold the hell out of her. I finally got it: she's not just a romantic young woman dreaming of true love, she's lonely and confused and she's growing up and trying to find out the truth about her father. For once, A Heart Full of Love didn't completely overshadow In My Life, so I got the full picture of Cosette, not just as the girl in love, but also as the daughter, the young woman trying to find her way. Plus, Seyfried acted the hell out of the Epilogue, a scene that is always guaranteed to make me cry, but that pretty much broke me when we saw the devastation on her face.

Perhaps because I'm not a lovesick teenage girl obsessed with a guy who doesn't care I exist, Eponine didn't resonate the same way with me as she used to. In fact, the whole love story (which used to be my focus) felt like background to the important stuff: Valjean's journey, the love between Valjean and Cosette, and, most important to me this time around, REVOLUTION. Well, failed revolution. The Barricade Boys were just wonderful and show-stealing and all I see is Enjolras and me forever and forever. Um. Which is to say: my favorite moments were all to do with the barricade and class struggle and hard times. Enjolras and Gavroche were both fantastic, and let's not even talk about the tears I shed over them. Also, every time Do You Hear the People Sing? came on, I cried, because I just felt so patriotic and overwhelmed and wanted to fight for a better world. I also have to give a special shout-out to my favorite song, Red and Black, for being the best song in the world, and having the best line in the whole damn show -- Enjolras to Marius: "Who cares about your lonely soul?"

A few other things of note -- the sound when Javert kills himself is probably the most what the fuck moment of the whole thing. Sometimes the realism just got so absurd. Another example is when Valjean carries Marius through the sewer and just ends up coated in shit and it's so gross I actually laughed, even though I had been sobbing basically though the entirety of the barricade. Also: I had mixed feelings on HBC and SBC as the Thenardiers, was super excited that Colm Wilkinson (a classic Valjean) played the Bishop, and basically even though I don't want to buy the soundtrack I kind of want to buy the soundtrack, mostly for Aaron Tveit (Enjolras).