The Travesty of the "Les Mis" Movie.

Hello,

I'm listening to the Highlights CD of the "Les Miserables" movie music. I'm sorry, but I'm extremely disappointed by it. Russell Crowe can't sing worth a lick. He tramples on the legacy of all the great singers who have sung as Javert. I don't blame Crowe though, I blame the person who cast him. His acting was fine, but his singing is atrocious. Also Hugh Jackman isn't worthy of filling Jean ValJean's shoes. And who in the hell is the idiot that cast Borat as Thenadier?

Although most people I know love the movie version of "Les Mis", I'm not one of those. I'm very disappointed by some of the "singers" they had to sing many of these iconic songs. For the most part the acting is good, the cinema photography is amazing and the story is very much the same as in the movie. For me the main thing that really hurt the movie is the poor performances of some of the songs.

Russell Crowe singing "Stars" is unbelievably bad. Not only does he sing it poorly, but he neuters all the emotion out of that amazing song. I couldn't find Crowe's version of "Stars" on youtube, I don't blame them for hiding his "performance" either.

Here's Norm Lewis' version of "Stars", from his first note we see how powerful both he and the song are:



This is Philip Quast's equally amazing version of "Stars". The watered down version of the "Les Mis" movie is what happens when you hire "names" over singers. Ah, what could have been:

Here's an example of Crowe and Jackman "singing". For those who've listened to the Original Broadway recording all these years, this is extremely unfulfilling:

From the opening of the 25th Anniversary of "Les Mis" on stage, you feel the power of this amazing music. However in the movie, it's not quite the same. Can you blame the people responsible for the movie version of "Les Mis" not to have too many clips on the internet. Also in the below video Alfie Boe and Norm Lewis show how the above song should be sung, starting at the the 2:37 mark.



Here's the Sasha Baren Cohen/ ruined movie version of "Master Of The House". Cohen's accent is so bad, this is a very dumbed down version of this amazing song. This performance reminds me of how a not very good "American Idol" contestant tries to sing a song by Whitney Houston. Cohen's version is so bad that I had to stop listening to it. However I thought Helena Bonham Carter did a good job. Also how many times was the movie going to tell the Cosette/Collette joke? It was funny the first time, but quickly lost it's charm. Cohen's "Master of the House" is so bad that I couldn't even listen to the whole thing.



Here's Matt Lucas singing "Master of the House" as it should be sung:



This is my favorite version of "Master of the House", from the 10th Anniversary of "Les Mis":



Not every song is ruined in the movie. No, not even close. Here are some of my favorite songs sung in the movie. Anne Hathaway's "I Dreamed A Dream":



Eddie Raymayne's amazing version of "Empty Chairs At Empty Tables". This is especially powerful in the movie:



I also loved Isabelle Allen's "Castle On A Cloud" (This was the best video I found.):



This is monmonsnowseason6 combination video of Samantha Barks singing "On My Own" on both the stage and in the "Les Mis" movie:



I like Barks here as well on "On My Own":



I've got to give some love to Lea Solanga as well, "I Dreamed A Dream":



Here are some of the other highlights from the best musical ever. This is a very spine tingling version of  "One Day More":



"Do You Hear The People Sing"?



This version features Lea Solanga as well, "Lovely Ladies/ Fantine's Arrest":



Here's the whole version of the 25th Anniversary Concert. Enjoy:



themusicaddict