26 lines
2.7 KiB
Plaintext
26 lines
2.7 KiB
Plaintext
modern audiences are more likely to be familiar with les misirables from the pop-broadway musical rather than victor hugo's original tome .
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adapted several times for the cinema , this latest effort does a superb job of translating the characters , story , and heart of the novel to the screen .
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liam neeson stars as jean valjean .
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as a young man , valjean stole some bread to satisfy his hunger . . . and he was sentenced to 19 years of hard labor for his crimes .
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prison hardened him , and on his release he seems doomed to a life of crime and squalor .
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however , an unexpected act of compassion changes his outlook on life , and he vows to become a better man .
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however , he runs up against one man who doesn't believe in reform .
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inspector javert ( geoffrey rush ) is an obsessive law abider .
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he has no tolerance for anyone who breaks the rules , even with benign intentions .
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he once served as a guard at the labor camp where valjean served , and after valjean breaks his parole , javert devotes himself to bringing him to justice .
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two women also get caught up in the struggle .
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fantine ( uma thurman ) is an unwed mother suffocating in an unforgiving society .
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her daughter , cosette ( mimi newman , and later , claire danes ) , is her life , yet she cannot afford to raise her .
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instead , cosette is sent to live with a cruel foster family which extorts money from fantine , and forces cosette into a life little better than a slave .
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director bille august manages to create a faithful adaptation of victor hugo's novel , which , though omitting some of the political undertones , remains true to the overall story and tone of the book .
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hopefully you won't , as some clueless members of the audience did , wonder where all the songs went .
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the movie manages to be completely engrossing without the andrew lloyd webber flourishes .
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the experience is bolstered by strong performances throughout , though neeson and rush deservedly take center stage with their core roles .
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neeson in particular deserves kudos for his portrayal of a man trying to do good , but continually haunted by his past .
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the supporting cast is also extraordinary .
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the only actor who dims in comparison is hans matheson , playing the revolutionary , marius .
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the film slightly loses its luster during his brief love affair , but it is transitory , and truly only distracting when contrasted with the rest of the film .
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the novel les misirables is , by any account , an epic , both in its scope and in its length .
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while it would be nearly impossible to cram everything from its pages into a two hour movie , this latest attempt does an admirable job at the translation .
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it , too , is an epic . . . and one worth seeing .
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