A surprising eye-candy and music experience...

Rating: Null/10 (18 December 2001)

I was very resistant to seeing this film... after seeing "Sound of Music" 12 times as a child, I couldn't stomach another musical to save my life.
Nevertheless, I broke down and rented "Moulin Rouge" at the recommendation of my friends, and I am very glad I listened to them. Moulin Rouge is not only a surprisingly-well-made film experience, it is an absolute treat for the eyes and ears!
Let me start by declassifying this from the 'musical movie' genre... unlike 'Grease', I would better describe Moulin Rouge as its own hybrid genre of 'eclectic music video'. There are big dance numbers added to please dance fans, and there is a Les-Miserables-Romeo-Juliet storyline woven into the music to keep the romantics happy. In the end, though, this movie is about powerful and emotive music.
The most compelling part Moulin Rouge has got to be the clever remaking and rearranging of dozens of classic pop songs, and then using these remakes as part of the dialogue narrative. Baz Luhrmann's bold directing style really shows during these dance/vocal scenes, and Craig Armstrong's brilliant music score will keep your foot tapping to familiar songs from the 70s and 80s. Generation X viewers will chuckle at the U2, Madonna, Queen, Elton John, Nirvana, David Bowie, Fatboy Slim, T Rex, and Kylie Minogue sound bites.
(fyi: Kylie Minogue plays a 20 second part as a green fairy, and Ozzy provides her background vocals).
I personally didn't care for the star-crossed lovers storyline part... that doesn't appeal to my tastes... but the big-band music and dance choreography was thoroughly enjoyable, and far outweighed any sappiness.

HIGH POINTS OF THIS FILM:
-The Diamond Dogs scene (complete with acid-tripping CanCan dance and Nirvana-meets-Fred-Astaire choreography)
-The "Your Song" scene (where McGregor and Kidman serenade each other like Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta, except they quote Kiss, the Beatles, Sweet, Joe Cocker, and Captain and Tennille while they sing.)
-The "Like a Virgin" scene (where Jim Broadbent and Richard Roxburgh take Madonna into interpretive jazz territory)
-The "Roxanne" scene (where Jacek Koman turns the Police into a heavy-metal latin number)
-Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman actually do all their own singing throughout the film.
LOW POINTS OF THE FILM:
-The ending will not make romantic viewers very happy.
-They didn't manage to work any Led Zeppelin or Van Halen. (now *that* would have really impressed me!)

A thoroughly fun rental, especially for Generation X music fans. I not only give this film Two Enthusiastic Thumbs Up, but I would also recommend it as a DVD purchase just to see the extra music and dance footage.