A bloody mess

Rating: 6/10 (28 September 2003)

I loved Baz Luhrman's Romeo and Juliet and was looking forward to finally seeing Moulin Rouge. Unfortunately I found out it was a loud mess of a movie, edited to within an inch of its life.
Apparently this is 'reinventing the musical'. Well yes, if by reinvention you mean 'no melodies' and 'snatches of pop song lyrics thrown around like confetti'.
Some would argue the film is refreshing, and in some ways it is because the cast and director are plainly doing whatever they think is fun, but I found it to be like a four year old with a toy: it's fun for him but bloody annoying for you because he's so loud.
This is a bloody mess of a movie, and I'm usually very open-minded.