From: leeper@mtgzy.att.com (Mark R. Leeper)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews
Subject: REVIEW: NEWSIES
Summary: r.a.m.r. #01312
Keywords: author=Leeper
Date: 7 Apr 92 13:48:29 GMT
Reply-To: leeper@mtgzy.att.com
Followup-To: rec.arts.movies
Organization: AT&T, Middletown NJ


				   NEWSIES
		       A film review by Mark R. Leeper
			Copyright 1992 Mark R. Leeper

	  Capsule review:  The story of the 1899 newsboy strike
     in New York City is told with about the same liberty that
     MATEWAN took.  At the same time it is half-heartedly a
     musical.  As a musical it is perhaps a misfire, but the
     historical tale is worth seeing.  Rating: high +1 (-4 to +4).

     It is New York City, 1899.  Life is hard if you are a boy on your own
with no money.  But if a boy is poor and needs work, he could buy newspapers
at a cent each and sell them on the street for two cents a piece.  You might
earn a dollar a day that way.  Or you might not be able to sell what you
have and end up losing money.  A really good newsie might get $50 a week.
Joseph Pulitzer (played by Robert Duvall) decides to raise the price to the
newsboys by 10%.  Seeing their livelihood drying up, newsboys Jack Kelly and
David Jacobs (played by Christian Bale of EMPIRE OF THE SUN and David
Moscow) decide to organize the New York City newsboys into a strike against
the local newspapers.  Pulitzer, deciding he has a fight on his hands,
decides to play as dirty as he needs to win.  NEWSIES is the story of that
strike.

     Disney Studios tried something a little different with NEWSIES.  The
historical film is currently at a low ebb since historical education is also
at a low ebb.  For once more films being made are set *after* the 20th Century
than *before*.  Still, Disney did make a historical film about an 1899 newsboy
strike.  Then they tried to aim it at both adults and children.  Then on top
of that they decided to make it a musical.  This is an idea that is either
audacious or nutty, depending on your point of view.  So, does it all work?
Well, sort of.  My impression of the trailer is that it all sounded like a
good idea except for making it a musical.  Certainly once I saw the film I
would say that its biggest problem is that it is a musical.  The idea of a
big pro-labor musical has a nostalgic feel reminiscent of Broadway shows
like PINS AND NEEDLES.  This certainly is a more engaging theme for a
musical than "I'm in love" or "Let's put on a show" Like the vast majority
of musicals.  The problem here is that this is only half-heartedly a
musical.  There are only about six songs, so the viewer is generally
thinking straight drama when a character or group of characters starts
acting funny and with a jolt the viewer realizes they are going into a song.
It may well be that making this a musical was an afterthought after Menken's
success with BEAUTY AND THE BEAST.  I noted without minding that the film
used Bale's and Moscow's real singing voices--if you really want to call
them singing voices.  David Fristrom, in a review of the film, noted the
dances were not very well filmed and he is probably right, thought I might
not have picked up on it.  I did like the song "The World Will Know," which
had almost some of the force of LES MISERABLES.  Incidentally, please note
that the name of Pulitzer's newspaper is "The New York World."  The script
has some fun with that name; if you miss the name, you miss the point of
some of the word-play.  When Pulitzer says, "When I created the World..." it
is intended as a subtle statement that Pulitzer is a megalomaniac.  Instead
it sounds like he is certifiably insane.

     As for the story of the strike, it has a minor Dickensian tone crossed
with obvious Disney touches.  Visually the old New York was created with
perhaps too many obvious matte shots, but maybe in a musical we expect a pat
plot and make allowances for some of the visuals being less than authentic-
looking.  In spite of the nits that can be picked, there is enough substance
to appreciate here.  I might not recommend NEWSIES but I rate it a high +1
on the -4 to +4 scale.

					Mark R. Leeper
					att!mtgzy!leeper
					leeper@mtgzy.att.com
Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews