I Saw Les Miserables and I LOVED It!!

SPOILERS!!!SPOILERS!!!SPOILERS!!!

And the Oscar goes to Anne Hathaway!  And the Oscar goes to Hugh Jackman!  The Oscar definitely does not go to Russell Crow.  The Oscar definitely does not go to Amanda Seyfried.

First, a little background.  Les Mis is my favorite book and my favorite musical.  My copy of the book literally doesn't have a cover anymore.  My expectations of this movie could not possibly have been lower.  I have sat through every modern movie musical and been devastated by the ruination of my favorite musicals by non-singers being cast in lead roles and directors who over-reached (I'm looking at you RENT and The Phantom of the Opera).  I was ready for Anne Hathaway to ruin the whole thing.  Just saying "Russell Crow has a background in musical theater" can mean he was in his middle school play...I know how you people work (turns out that one was probably true).

The short version...Les Miserables was AWESOME!!!!  It blew me away.  Visually stunning.  I was very concerned about the singing live rather than singing to playback but it worked, it really worked.  Made the movie much more intimate and it actually made the movie FEEL more like the experience of watching a live musical.  A few things added, a few things taken away...neither of which made that much difference to me.

The cast:

• Hugh Jackman (Jean Valjean): SO much better than I ever anticipated.  Having listened to his audible assault on the "Boy From OZ" soundtrack, I had no idea he was capable of this.  His performance blew me away.  It was definitely a challenge for him vocally but he handled it for the most part.  There was noticeable straining during "Bring Him Home" that could have been rectified with some different vocal technique.  But, and I can't believe I'm saying this, the overall performance and vocals were THAT good that I can deal with the small bits of bad.   
• Anne Hathaway (Fantine): Oscar.  I haven't ever seen a performance this amazing in my life.  Enough said.
• Russell Crow (Javert): I am embarrassed for him.  It is beyond me why he agreed to do this movie or why his agent or anyone with his interests in mind would allow him to do it.  This role was so amazingly far out of his league.  Not only were his vocals a complete joke, every Javert vocal was slowed because RC couldn't handle it, and he didn't even seem to be trying to act.  I have no idea what he was doing.  My theory is that he knew how badly he was sucking and was sulking because he signed a contract that he regretted during filming.  Horrible, horrible, horrible.  Bad, bad, bad.  Embarrassing.  They should revoke his SAG card for this. 
• Helena Bohnam Carter and Sasha Baron Cohen (Thenardiers): Amazing!  I needed a little more vocally from HBC, but I can overlook it because of the hilarity of the pair of them.  Super sad their  "Beggers at the Feast" number was cut from the wedding scene.  SBC has perfect comedic timing in this role.  HBC played it a little to subtle for my taste but was still perfectly acceptable.  
• Samantha Barks (Eponine): Eehhh...she was good, but I want my Eponines to be Lea Salonga or Lea Michelle, belting their heads off until water glasses are shattering.  But yes, she was good and touching.  She was set up for a loss bc a good bit of Eponine's character development pieces were cut so I don't know that an audience that isn't already obsessed with Les Mis would be as in love with her as they should be when she kicks it.
• Amanda Seyfried (Cosette): She raped my ears with her warbley, untrained bird voice.  However, I do have to give her more points that Russell Crow because at least she acted a little bit.  What was she doing in this movie?  HOLLYWOOD: STOP CASTING NON-SINGERS IN MUSICALS!!!!!!!!
• Eddie Redmayne (Marius), Aaron Tveit (Enjolras): Excellente!!!  These two, and all of the other students/rebels, get two thumbs up from me.  The rebellion sequence was perfection...PERFECTION.  Except, except..."Little People" was cut.  Oh, and Eponine didn't deliver the letter from Marius to Cosette.  But, again I can't believe I'm saying this, the rest of the sequence was so incredibly amazing, I can deal with that.

I am so unbelievably impressed with the overall presentation of Les Miserables, that I will just fast-forward through "Stars" and "Javert's Suicide" and just listen to Marius during "A Heart Full of Love, and watch the rest over and over again when the DVD comes out.

And finally, Colm Wilkinson.