I just saw this movie on cable, and had medium to good expectations of it. Watching the opening sequence, I felt even better about the experience I was about to have -- this opening segment, and the general cinematography are 2 of the 3 reasons why I gave this a 2 out of 10 rather than a 1.
The third reason it rates a bit higher is Minnie Driver as the diva Carlotta. One of the few characters that had any personality, she was quite fun to watch.
However, my early hopes were dashed quite quickly, as I kept looking at my watch to see how much more of it I had to endure.
Wow, the lead actors (other than Driver) were just completely miscast. I'm not saying they are bad actors in general -- but in this project, they simply did not work at all. Emmy Rossum's character is supposed to entrance people with her singing, but it came out as a barely passable "pop music" voice, and while she looked quite adorable, there didn't seem to be much going on with her emotionally. Gerard Butler could barely hit half the notes he tried for, has a bit of a lisp (!) and his delivery was generally quite abysmal, especially with the staccato song-speak parts. Patrick Wilson, while carrying a tune fairly well, came off as simply bland in both the singing and speaking parts.
Then there's the matter of the songs themselves. Having never seen the stage version (although I've heard one or two pieces on a friend's soundtrack album), I don't have anything to compare this version to; so let me say that nearly all of the songs came off as pedantic and forced. Many of them were simply laughable in their composition.
I only forced myself to get through to the end of the movie because I had heard some good reviews from friends. A waste of good film stock. Somebody else at the helm of this picture may have been able to salvage it, but it would mean replacing many of the actors, re-working most of the songs, creating a better dramatic flow, and-- oh, forget it. It's a lost cause.
It fails as a drama, it fails as a romance, and it fails miserably as a musical. Don't waste your time, unless you're a rabid PotO fan, in which case, I'm sure you've already seen it.
The third reason it rates a bit higher is Minnie Driver as the diva Carlotta. One of the few characters that had any personality, she was quite fun to watch.
However, my early hopes were dashed quite quickly, as I kept looking at my watch to see how much more of it I had to endure.
Wow, the lead actors (other than Driver) were just completely miscast. I'm not saying they are bad actors in general -- but in this project, they simply did not work at all. Emmy Rossum's character is supposed to entrance people with her singing, but it came out as a barely passable "pop music" voice, and while she looked quite adorable, there didn't seem to be much going on with her emotionally. Gerard Butler could barely hit half the notes he tried for, has a bit of a lisp (!) and his delivery was generally quite abysmal, especially with the staccato song-speak parts. Patrick Wilson, while carrying a tune fairly well, came off as simply bland in both the singing and speaking parts.
Then there's the matter of the songs themselves. Having never seen the stage version (although I've heard one or two pieces on a friend's soundtrack album), I don't have anything to compare this version to; so let me say that nearly all of the songs came off as pedantic and forced. Many of them were simply laughable in their composition.
I only forced myself to get through to the end of the movie because I had heard some good reviews from friends. A waste of good film stock. Somebody else at the helm of this picture may have been able to salvage it, but it would mean replacing many of the actors, re-working most of the songs, creating a better dramatic flow, and-- oh, forget it. It's a lost cause.
It fails as a drama, it fails as a romance, and it fails miserably as a musical. Don't waste your time, unless you're a rabid PotO fan, in which case, I'm sure you've already seen it.