Extraordinary...for a while.

Rating: 8/10 (3 November 2010)

"I mean the show will be magnificent, opulent, tremendous, stupendous, gargantuan bedazzlement! A sensual ravishment. It will be...Spectacular Spectacular!"
I thought the first half of Moulin Rouge was spectacular. Beyond spectacular. Grand, sexy, bright, colorful, manic, clever, sumptuous, lavish, and endlessly amusing. Kidman was wonderful, the songs and performances grab you and don't let go, and I was just intensely interested by it all. It was the kind of start that anyone who enjoys a fun movie would find irresistible.
The second half, however, cooled my ardor a bit. The story takes a turn for the more serious and tragically romantic. The liveliness was replaced with sadness, the fun was supplanted with the dour, and Nicole Kidman was tragically over-dressed. I'm not claiming that these aspects of the movie were flaws (except Nicole Kidman not being half-naked anymore), but they didn't appeal to me as much as what came before. I found myself losing interest somewhat.
So my score is an average of a stellar first half and a disappointing (for me) finale. Depending on your preference for the melodramatic, you may not share my reservations. Regardless, this is a movie that anyone with even a passing fondness for musicals must see. It's a glorious experience, even if it's an uneven one.