In the choice of Pasek and Paul, and on the heels of several contemporary musicals, the team behind The Greatest Showman opted for a modern sound, with pop and hip hop influences, despite the 19th century setting. Some of it works beautifully, and suits the character of Barnum, who wanted to bring entertainment to the masses. However, since the sound is heavily influenced by pop music to appeal to popular culture, the character development usually provided by the songs is lost. Without a solid script to bolster it, the characters - all of them - are completely flat. Those that suffer the most -historically and structurally - are Barnum's "oddities." By failing to invest in the characters, the film undermines even the most anthemic of songs. We're meant to accept "This is Me," led by Broadway veteran Keala Settle as Lettie Lutz (the bearded lady has a name?), as the circus cast's reaction to being shut out of a society party? It breaks my heart to know how much more meaningful it would have been to see the cast unite against the violence and shame they experience. Whatever camaraderie was developed off-screen, heartily evident in the press tour, does not translate to the film, and it's a shame.
Going into the film, the expectation is that Hugh Jackman will carry the film, as the leading man, title character, and driving force behind the entire project. Somehow, the ringleader and hero persona fails to fully materialize. I suspect this is due to a few factors: one, the real P.T. Barnum was a scummy con-man, and two, the lack of a clear antagonist. Is it Charity's father, the upper-class gentleman who dismisses Barnum as worthless? Is it the theatre critic, whose favor is to be won? Is it Barnum's own oddities? Is it Barnum himself? There's not enough contrast, obstacle, or conflict established toward any of these. When Barnum approaches playwright Philip Carlyle (Efron's character), presumably to bring a representative of elite society to the low-class sideshow, "The Other Side" gives us lyrical clues that are just not matched visually. There's talk of peanuts and clowns when referring to the circus, but we've seen nothing of those, and there's peanuts in this uptown bar. Carlyle does seem suited to his uptown life, with no propensity for risk-taking and no inclination toward a seedy hobbies. It's hard to see any reason he would change his mind, mid-tune, and decide to work with Barnum. When he does, Carlyle brings credibility to the production, evidenced by his ability to garner an invitation to meet the Queen of England, where Buckingham Palace feels no different than the American theatres we've seen. Class distinction is all in shorthand, with Zendaya's averted eyes, more tuxedos for the gentlemen, the queen on her throne. But it's all clean - there's nothing freakish about the circus performers when they walk in the room. It's merely their command for attention, nothing garish or offensive. Then, for some unknown reason Barnum suddenly decides to pursue opera singer Jenny Lind (Rebecca Ferguson). Lind tells Barnum she doesn't feel like she belongs in high society, and we immediately see her in opposition to Barnum's wife Charity, who was raised in wealth and stooped to marry the tailor's son. If Lind is Charity's foil, Ferguson is Michelle Williams' inverse, though it's not quite in the way one might hope. Both characters are gentle, generous, beautiful, and look at Jackman/Barnum with adoring faces, and they both sing songs, in the same style. The characters barely differ - it's the performances. Where Williams brings authenticity and grace to her role, Ferguson's concert scenes make her seems more a fraud than the circus acts, despite the bearded lady's facial hair. If Ferguson's own vocals weren't going to be used, more consideration should have been given to the use of an operatic voice, create an aural opposition to to support the difference we're meant to feel between the world of the circus performers and the elite circles of the crowds at the grand theatre.
The Greatest Showman marks director Michael Gracey's first full-length feature film, and while there's a fair amount that Gracey got right, it's possible that my hopes were too high. Yet, certain things should have been obvious. Most of Gracey's previous credits are as a visual effects artist and digital compositor, which makes me feel that he should really have been able to see how unintentionally terrible the lady's beard was, and how terribly unrealistic the animals appeared. No animals were harmed in this production, because no animals were used in this production.
So I end on a sigh, wishing desperately that I could fix it. It's so evidently on a path to being tremendously moving. It frustrates me, like a nearly irrepressible desire to boop a stranger's baby's nose or remove lint from the jacket of someone you don't know. Part of my optimistic heart says perhaps it's merely that there is room for improvement with a stage adaptation. ::wink::
Notes
- Interestingly, while Hugh Jackman first made his mark on American stages in the 2009 Broadway revival of Oklahoma, it was Shuler Hensley (Lead Protestor in The Greatest Showman) who won a Tony award for his portrayal of Jackman's Oklahoman rival Jud Fry.
- Multiple cast members have Broadway musical credits. Among them: Hugh Jackman (Oklahoma), Michelle Williams (Chicago), Keala Settle (The Color Purple), Will Swenson (Hair), Daniel Everidge (Grease)
- For more circus drama or magic, see: Water for Elephants - both the book by Sara Gruen and the film it inspired, The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, and the HBO series Carnivale (not for the faint of heart)
- For a lovable conman, see: The Music Man. indie film Skills Like This, or the classic Bogart We're No Angels. What's your favorite (possibly redeemable) conman film?
