Who doesn’t love a good musical? The exuberant nature of
song and dance on the big screen never ceases to please even the biggest cynics
in some capacity. Last year is evidence of this, as La La Land released to rapturous praise and thus the lyricists
behind that in Benj Pasek and Justin Paul are inevitably back for more. In a
musical with perhaps a little more interesting basis, the story of P.T. Barnum,
The Greatest Showman can’t quite
deliver on its promising parts.
American showman P. T. Barnum (Hugh Jackman) becomes
the founder of the circus that will become the famous traveling Ringling
Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.
The film starts off on a bad foot by taking this fascinating
man in P.T. Barnum and cleaning his story up by making him this champion of
strange because he invented the circus, a place for the general public to be
freaked out. And while the sanitizing of this individual may not be unheard of
for biopics, it feels worse when the story is surrounded by big musical
numbers. Part of the problem is there is very little depth to any of it,
presenting surface level conflict that’s solved within minutes or with a song.
Other side plots feel just as hollow, particularly the love story involving two
character that feels half-baked and sudden.
None of this is the fault of the actors though, as many of
them give good performances. Hugh Jackman is exceptional in this type of
charismatic and confident role, even if the character isn’t the best. Michelle Williams gives a good performance that the film almost doesn’t deserve even in
her limited moments. And while their story feels hollow, Zendaya and Zac Efron
are believably into each other, even if the reason is because they’re the two
attractive young stars. But the real problem with The Greatest Showman is that it takes the most interesting people,
the stars of Barnum’s circus, and uses them as props rather than actually
integrating them into the story at all.
If nothing else, the music is catchy, though a little
over-produced and touched up. But even then, the usage of the songs becomes so uniform
with over the top or over-choreographed scenes that it is hard to look at the
music on its own. Only one number really stands out as unique from the others
simply because it actually uses the circus space to its advantage, giving it a
life that none of the others possess.
Overall, The Greatest
Showman is a hollow and thin look at an interesting character in P.T.
Barnum that tries its hardest to dazzle you into submission. While it is
visually pleasing with some excellent costume and production design, the film
can’t withstand surface level story with zero depth and conflicts that
seemingly resolve themselves through song and dance. 2017 has had no shortage
of disappointments, but The Greatest
Showman might just be the greatest of them all.
So what did you think of The
Greatest Showman? Have you seen it? Are you interested in seeing it? Share,
subscribe, comment below, and as always return to I Am Sam for weekly reviews
and insight.
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