Highly Overrated But Still Good

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

Jean Valjean (Liam Neeson)is a Frenchman who ends up being imprisoned for stealing a loaf of bread. However, Valjean manages to escape from prison and goes on the run. Valjean does his best to set-up a new life for himself and turn his back on his old ways. The film follows Valjean and Javert in a 20 year cat-and-mouse battle and the impact that all of this has on both of their lives.This is my first experience of "Les Miserables" so please bear with me while I try and explain what I felt were the pros and cons of this film;PROS;The cinematography was very good (cold and bleak) which is befitting as this reflects the general outlook for the majority of its citizens. The second thing that was also good were the set designs; clearly a lot of time, thought and effort had been spent on trying to capture the era and it succeeds in making the film look professional and authentic.Some of the performances here were excellent (particularly Geoffrey Rush and Uma Thurman). Javert initially pursue Valjean out of a sense of duty, but as time progresses it becomes more of an obsession and he slowly begins to lose touch with reality - Rush takes us through this journey impeccably and he's the best person in this film by a country mile. Uma Thurman's performance helps bring out the tragedy within her character; she's a pathetic figure and does some 'questionable' things, but she does these questionable things for all the right reasons so her character is someone who people can identify with. Uma Thurman is someone who is a better actress than people give her credit for and when you look at her performance here compared to films such as Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill (who are clearly mirror opposites to the character that she portrays here) then it's clear that she is a talented and diverse actress. Both Thurman and Rush definitely up this film a notch.Given the fact that the film in its basic form has something of a 'cat and mouse' narrative to it then it certainly had enough going for it to hold my interest.CONS; The first half of the film is quite engaging, but for me it started to lose impetus in the second half (it neither has the intrigue or suspense that the first half offered and seemed to meander quite a lot). We're once again introduced to an unnecessary romantic subplot which just ground the picture down.In all honesty I also had mixed feelings about our protagonist; on the one hand yes he's tried to turn his back on his former life and he has helped people along the way, but he also lied and deceived a lot of people as well. I suppose the good that he did outweighed the bad, but let's not pretend that he is in any way perfect.I also felt that there were gaps in the narrative that could have been filled; Valjean escapes from prison and then the film skips by a further 9 years by which time he has become mayor of the town. OK what happened in those 9 years? In some ways the gaps and jumps in the film do make it difficult to get to grips with some of the characters and make it hard to care about them at times.Liam Neeson is generally a good actor and I do like a lot of his films, but something just didn't click here when watching him in Les Miserables. When tough-talking or anything physical is required he's excellent, but he seemed to struggle a bit when any sort of emotion is required (maybe I'm biased and maybe the numerous action films I've seen Neeson in have clouded my judgement of him), but I standby my original assertion.Like Valjean himself this film is good most of the time rather than all of the time.

This review contains spoilers Les Misérables is Victor Hugo's classic tale of nobility and self-sacrifice that will have one questioning what man owes society and what society owes man, especially in terms of justice, and finally, what men owe each other. This film is from 1998 and was directed by Billie August. It stars Liam Neeson, Geoffrey Rush, and Uma Thurman. With source material of this nature one expects a lot and this doesn't disappoint in any way. Les Misérables is a large film that tells a large, decades -long story.Let's just break this film down by the numbers and let the chips fall where they may: A) Plot -- the story of Jean Valjean and his struggle to live free is a timeless classic -- 10 B) Characters -- the Characters are fully realized, well-motivate and very believable -- 10 C) Acting -- Liam Neeson and Uma Thurman give excellent performances and none are lacking -- 8 D) Script -- a very good adaptation which moves the story forward well while providing plenty of detail and background -- 8 E) Direction -- interesting and epic shot selection helped convey the scope of the story -- 8 F) Cinematography -- beautifully and artistically shot -- 9 G) Editing -- conventional editing techniques aided the narrative and cinematography/shot selection -- 8 H) Production Design -- Seemed very much like the period with lots of attention to detail -- 8 I) Costume Design -- Realistic but boring, it might have been preferable to have stylized costumes with a little more to look at -- 6 J) Stunts -- Could have done a little more -- 6 K) Special & Visual Effects -- The armed fighting was too short and featured a lack of intensity that additional special effects could have aided -- 5 L) Music -- sweeping in scope, like the film --8 M) Sound -- strong and clear -- 8 N) Entertainment Value -- 9 Average 7.928, call it an 8. Pop some corn, melt some butter and enjoy.This film features violence from civil unrest with the deaths of many including a child, violence against a woman and adult themes. It is rated PG-13.

One of many versions of Victor Hugo's iconic epic, this late 90s version sees Liam Neeson as Jean Valjean, a 19th century convict who is given a chance for redemption, despite the persistence of the law-obsessed Inspector Javert (Geoffrey Rush), when he must raise the child of the lowly Fantine (Uma Thurman), Cosette (Claire Danes), amidst various changes and turmoils in France, culminating in the student revolt in Paris.While its ending will have Hugo purists boiling with rage, Bille August's adaptation still manages to be a very fine film in its own right. Its immediate strength is its all star cast's great performances, especially Rush and Neeson in the two central roles, playing off each other perfectly as the kind hearted Valjean and the ruthless Javert. Thurman, following 'Batman & Robin' and 'The Avengers', does make up for it here with a nuanced and kindly performance as Fantine, while Danes' Cosette, though a little more bitchy than other versions, still conveys that sense of goodness and hope that is so central to the character.Production-wise, it's exactly what you'd expect. August' direction is sweeping and large, enhanced by design work and location filming that does make you believe you are looking at early 19th century France, and in the midst of horrid prisons and bloody street battles during the revolution. Veteran master Basil Poleadours' score is also nicely varied, going from booming and romantic, to intimate and sombre as we journey with Valjean as he reclaims his life.Rafeal Yglesias (the same man behind the great screenplay for Peter Weir's 'Fearless') does a workman like job of adapting and condensing the notoriously thick book, mainly focusing on Valjean's journey here and dialing back on a lot of the socio-political commentary of Hugo's work. This is a double edged sword, as it does permit more than a handful of genuinely emotional moments that tug at the heart without being too sappy, and focuses the story more around Valjean and his quest for redemption, but it also means that most of the supporting cast are cut or severely reduced (the Thernadiers are on screen for a few moments, and Marius and Enjorlas get collapsed into one character, among a number of other changes) and again, a lot of the bigger ideas in 'Les Mis' are more in the background. And well, the ending is going to irk purists, which is all I'll say.But despite that, this more base take on 'Les Mis' still worked as an engaging period drama with really tight pacing and a good emotional undercurrent. It may not be definitive, but it is entertaining

With no doubt this movie is an utopia. Never ever in my life I have been so mesmerized by a movie in the way this one did to me. This is the movie of my life, a masterpiece, a perfect movie that warms your hearth and changes you as a person if you allow it. In a good manner. This movie also made me read the books. I love this story so much that I will build myself with patience and even go to see the new musical, for which I don't have the high expectations everyone has right now but I'm not going to criticize either. I will go for the story. For the wonderful story of Jean Valijean and Javert. I don't care about the differences. There are always going to be differences, between a movie and a book, but that doesn't matter. The message matters. The message that carries what we all should do more in our life: be a better person than others, be able to forgive and give up hating. This is what really matters and a true "Les miserables" fan will notice and follow that. As for the cast I have no words. Liam Neeson IS Jean Valijean! He's the perfect Jean Valijean that the world will have on screen, no matter what some others say. Geoffrey Rush IS the one and only Javert. He IS and WILL always be the one and only person that could portray the fanatic, perfectionist and twisted Javert. He is the only person by now that could pull all this emotions together and give this perfect performance. If the Academy Awards wouldn't have been so blind at the edition and toss around the Oscars with no sense as they did and would have notice more carefully the wonderful performance of those two the Oscars would have been now at their rightfully owners. But I don't care. For me and for others as well they are the best from that year. Not "Elizabeth", NOT "Shakespeare in love", THIS! Uma Thurman and Claire Danes are the most talented (especially Danes) Fantine and Cosette. Claire Danes will always be Cosette for me. She was the most sweet person in the movie. With the most beautiful eyes as well. The score was perfect especially at the Revolution scene. Very powerful.Watch it people. If you care about good movies watch it as soon as you read this! Otherwise you live in vain.10* PERFECTION!