A movie that left me with very mixed feelings about the concept

Rating: Null/10 (20 July 2011)

I sat down to watch this movie with very mixed feelings about it, and found that ambivalence intensified by the end of the movie.
I'm aware that a lot of the way I felt about "Moulin Rouge" is because of a very personal feeling I have about what a musical movie should be, and that isn't entirely fair to the movie. Take this warning for what it's worth.
On a pure entertainment level, "Moulin Rouge" provides some shiny sparkly fun diversion. It's the story of a singer/dancer/courtesan, Satine (Nicole Kidman), who is the star attraction at the Moulin Rouge cabaret in Paris during the belle epoque, which was about the late 1880's through to the start of the first World War.
This is the Paris of Comte Henri de Tolouse-Lautrec, who is played in the movie by Jim Broadbent, and it is a decadent period where cynicism and grasping materialism collide head-on with the dreams, now possible, of upward mobility through the burgeoning entertainment/arts industry. A singer, a dancer, a writer, an artist (or artiste), an impresario could become a major player in society. All that was required was talent and the will to make the grab for the brass ring when the merry-go-round spun you into its path.
The bare bones of the plot involves the romance of Satine with a penniless writer, Christian (Ewan McGregor), while Satine tries to seduce a rich rich rich nobleman, known only as "the Duke" (Richard Roxburgh) so he'll finance a show for her at the Moulin Rouge cabaret. The Duke wants to possess Satine; Christian wants to love her; and Satine, who has tuberculosis and is doomed, waivers between going for the love (Christian) and going for the undying fame and fortune (the Duke and the starring role in the show he'll finance for her).
Where the movie goes wrong for me is in setting all of the plot and action to a contemporary soundtrack, featuring songs like "Lady Marmalade" sung by Christina Aguilera, "Diamond Dogs" by Beck, "Nature Boy" by David Bowie, and Kidman and McGregor covering songs like "Sparkling Diamonds" and "Our Song".
It's not that McGregor and Kidman do a bad job of singing, or that the songs chosen are themselves inappropriate or badly done. And it's not that the action and dancing that accompanies the songs is wrong or badly done. It's just that the use of the contemporary songs that are well-known and hits in their own right gives a sense of being a bunch of music videos cobbled together to make a movie. For me it just didn't feel right: it didn't feel original. It felt commercial, and it made me feel betrayed, as if by ponying up my dollars for admission I was just buying a slick packaged product, not viewing an original work of art.
And that's where I have the problem with this movie. But setting aside my personal feelings, I'm not going to tell you that this movie is a waste of time, far from it. While the plot of the doomed courtesan having to choose between true love and commercial success is an old story, it's very well told in this movie, in an entertaining way, with some very talented people doing a good job. As pure entertainment it can work very well.
I hate to use the term "chick flick," but I do believe that this is a movie that will appeal to women far more than to men, although guys should take note that this would be a really great "date movie." But the costumes, the dancing and the plot will not appeal to those who are looking for an action movie towards the testosterone end of the spectrum.
I'm not going to tell people looking for a fun movie to watch to avoid "Moulin Rouge," because it is a fun movie to watch. But for people who wonder why I rated this movie relatively low, I'll just say this: watch a really original musical movie like "Oliver!", or one of the older classics like "West Side Story" or "South Pacific," and see if that makes you wonder what "Moulin Rouge" might have been if someone with talent and vision had tried to make a really original musical, instead of grabbing a bunch of contemporary hit songs and building a musical around them. Maybe if that had been done, we'd have a really GREAT movie, instead of a movie that's good commercial entertainment without the spark of originality that sets great art apart from merely successful art.