Biopic fails magnificently
When the 2018 Golden Globe nominations were announced recently, “The Greatest Showman,” which had yet to be released or reviewed, garnered a nomination for best motion picture — musical or comedy, seemingly just for being a musical.
“The Greatest Showman” is definitely a musical, but there’s nothing “greatest” or “best” about it.
The wild and wacky musical biopic of circus impresario P.T. Barnum is profoundly muddled. The story is at once too thin and too busy, a period piece making a halfhearted gesture toward modern-day values, with everything pasted into place using a blend of frantic pop music and Hugh Jackman’s flop sweat.
The pervasive songs are ear worms that are as catchy as all get-out. They’re written by the Oscar-winning songwriters of “La La Land,” Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, so they’re bound to be infectious. But watching performers in period dress sing and Directed by Michael Gracey.
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dance to contemporary pop songs creates a strange cognitive dissonance.
The anachronistic soundtrack just doesn’t work. One notably jarring number, billed as “opera,” is a Celine Dion-style ballad.
The story follows the rise of Phineas Taylor Barnum (Jackman), a dreamer and gogetter always seeking to improve his station in life to impress his upper-crust in-laws. He risks it all when he turns his museum of oddities into a live freak show with curious characters, animals, acrobatics, song and dance. But his drive for acceptance leads him to the breaking point.
He deserts his wife (Michelle Williams), daughters and show as he obsesses about attaining high-brow status with a tour for opera singer Jenny Lind (Rebecca Ferguson).
Michael Gracey makes his directorial debut here, with a script by Jenny Bicks and Bill Condon. The script doesn’t know what era it’s in, especially with regard to the circus performers.
Barnum exploits the strange people he hires, leaving the “freaks” high and dry. He is then celebrated for putting diverse performers onstage. All is forgiven with a rousing, foot-stomping number celebrating individuality.
At the center of all the chaos is a sweet love story between producer Phillip Carlyle (Zac Efron) and trapeze performer Anne Wheeler (Zendaya). Their stripped-down aerial duet is stunning.
Also a treat is Efron’s return to his musical roots. Viewers might wish that “The Greatest Showman” focused on this couple and got rid of the rest of the mess.