‘The Greatest Showman’ (B)
This musical look at the life of P.T. Barnum (Hugh Jackman) puts a glossy sheen on his relationships with those he exploited as “freaks.” And it doesn’t take into account his legacy of the nearly 150 years of suffering endured by exotic animals. But, man, are those songs catchy!
“The Greatest Showman” bursts out of the gate at a breakneck pace. In the first half-hour, young Barnum is orphaned and cast out onto the streets, marries his privileged childhood sweetheart (Michelle Williams), has two daughters, fails at multiple careers, opens a museum of curiosities and moves from a cramped apartment with a leaky roof to an ostentatious mansion near her disapproving parents.
Then things come to a screeching halt as the story gets bogged down with Barnum’s flirtations with legitimacy and Swedish singer Jenny Lind (Rebecca Ferguson).
Moviegoers won’t learn much about Barnum here — and that’s not really the point. “The Greatest Showman” is the type of spectacle he was known for delivering. From the dazzling aerial number featuring Zac
Efron and Zendaya as part of a cross-generational Disney Channel romance to the foot-stomper “The Greatest Show,” the music and choreography are decidedly and modernly anachronistic. It’s more Cirque than circus.
Songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (“La La Land,” “Dear Evan Hansen”) perfectly encapsulate the movie’s themes with “This Is Me,” which celebrates being comfortable in your own skin, whether it’s a hue that’s socially unacceptable for the times, has hair where it shouldn’t, or is stretched over a body that’s disproportionately tall, small or wide. some sort of watch list.
Nothing too invasive or anything. I’m simply suggesting that anyone who likes their family movies to cater to 8-year-olds while also including a good bit of cursing and at least two jokes too many about Jack Black’s penis might be worth keeping an eye on.
Four high-schoolers serving detention find a dusty video game console and a “Jumanji” cartridge. When they start to play, they’re sucked inside the world of the game and the bodies of the characters they’ve chosen. Nerdy germaphobe Spencer (Alex Wolff ) becomes the heroic Dr. Smolder Bravestone (Dwayne Johnson). Selfconscious Martha (Morgan Turner) turns into the scantily clad martial arts master Ruby Roundhouse (Karen Gillan). Massive jock Fridge (Ser’darius Blain) is a diminutive zoologist (Kevin Hart). And selfie
MOVIES
queen Bethany (Madison Iseman) becomes trapped in the body of a chubby cartographer (Jack Black).
If Hollywood has to make another “Jumanji” movie, this is a great concept, especially whenever
Johnson has to channel his inner, insecure teenager.
Black’s “there’s a gorgeous teenage girl inside me” shtick is masterful, but, like the movie, it goes on for way too long.
Aside from a handful of genuinely funny, can’t-helpbut-laugh moments, though, this trip to the jungle is anything but welcome. absurd yet oddly scientific “Downsizing” is dwarfed by her performance.
Despite some spectacular moments, the satire is all over the place. But it’s hard not to at least appreciate the effort of a movie that wears its environmental message, along with its enormous heart, on its little, Ken Dollsized sleeve.