‘Showman’s greatest oddity is its lack of story
The soundtrack for the P.T Barnum biopic musical The Greatest Showman is chock-full of amazing and catchy tunes you’ll be humming after the credits roll.
The movie? Send in the clowns. Michael Gracey’s directorial debut ( rated PG; in theaters Wednesday) is a disappointing circus of thinly developed characters, overly earnest melodrama and song-anddance sequences that are more like unrelated music videos sewn together for a threadbare narrative. Hugh Jack- man’s the ringmaster of this disjointed affair, though it’s not entirely his fault Barnum’s the least interesting part of his own movie.
What should have been an empowering film about outsiders and oddities finding their way in the world — and it’s there in frustrating bits and pieces — instead is a messy, misbegotten venture of a working-class man struggling with the ups and downs of becoming a show-business icon.
But, hey, at least it sounds really good — the array of original tunes comes courtesy of Oscar-winning La La Land songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. And when casting a multitalented dude to play the infamous 19th-century purveyor of show business, you could do worse than Jackman.
His Barnum is a goodhearted sort who’s tried hard to improve his lot throughout life. His understanding spouse, Charity (Michelle Williams), tries to lend perspective to her husband: “You don’t need everyone to love you. Just a few good people.”
It takes a while for old P.T. to get the message. He uses some cagey shenanigans to get the money needed to create his museum of oddities, which becomes a needed home for bearded lady Lettie Lutz (Keala Settle), trapeze artist Anne Wheeler (Zendaya) and other outcasts. Barnum becomes a hit among the New York upper class, and he loses focus on both of his families thanks to a tempting chanteuse (Rebecca Ferguson) and a bigger
brass ring.
However, all that important character-building stuff is simply filler to get to the next musical set piece. The Greatest Show kicks off in the film in Moulin Rouge- y, foot-stomping fashion, but the rousing overture gives way to A Million Dreams, a too-quick musical exposition dump regarding P.T.’s and Charity’s childhoods and backstory.
What works in a three-hour Broadway show, where sung feelings and interactions do wonders for character development, doesn’t quite do the trick in this 105-minute movie: A growing affection between Anne and Barnum’s partner, Phillip Carlyle (Zac Efron), takes off in the high-flying acrobatic sequence set to the electrifying duet Rewrite the Stars, though we’re left to wonder, outside of a few flirtatious glances, why these two lovebirds actually dig one another so much.
Phillip tells off his rich parents for talking down to Anne, either because she’s low-class circus folk or the fact she’s black (or both), and it’s a frustrating example of what this movie could have been: an inspirational project about the likes of the Tattooed Man, Dog Boy and others coming together despite societal rejection. Lettie leads them in the crashing of a posh party (and Settle also tears the house down in the powerhouse anthem This Is Me), but Barnum shuts down their quasi-social revolution — symbolic of the musical’s issues overall.
No doubt those will be forgotten in favor of the film’s family-friendly nature and hooky songs, though dazzling show tunes like these deserve better than a failed Showman.