This is what happens when I don’t update my Netflix queue. I get the “eat your vegetables” movies that I tell myself I want to watch but don’t really want to. I forget the exact way this ended up on my list. Probably an Oscar hit or National Board of Review selection. I like occasionally watching the movies that people thought were important at the time. It helps me contextualize something like a Philomena in more modern times. Good movie but no legs.
This is a Les Misérables adaptation, plain and simple. What’s interesting with something as adapted and extensive as Les Misérables is how it’s adapted. What’s cut out? Which characters get focus? Etc. This one focuses heavily on Fredric March’s Jean Valjean. It does develop any of the other characters all that much. It certainly cuts down Fantine’s role, no doubt because of Hays Code-type concerns. The simple approach does cut down on the expansiveness that has made the story so enduring, but I kind of liked the streamlined approach to it. I didn’t even think it was possible to do a Les Mis adaptation that’s under 2 hours.
Verdict: Weakly Don’t Recommend
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