Movie you will adore or hate

Rating: 5/10 (20 June 2002)

I have very mixed feelings about this movie. The elements that work, they work wonderfully. The aspects that don't work, well, oh brother.
Things that work
-Nicole Kidman-she steals the show with her classic beauty, charm, charisma and sheer star power. She was perfect casting.
-The sets- The sets were beautiful. You can tell a lot of work was put in these stunning sets. They're wonderful eye candy.
_The costumes- I wanted to design costumes for plays when I was young.So I was impressed with the outfits. Heck if I was twenty pounds thinner I would use similar dresses for Halloween.
_Ewan Mcgregor -Even though through the whole movie all he does is act lovesick and pout. For people who only know him as Obi-Wan it shows his wide range of talent.
Bad things about the movie
_The music-There's just something wrong about using Nirvana and madonna songs for 19th century France. It's just tacky. It's almost as if Baz Luhrman thinks that modern audiences won't tolerate showtunes so top 40 hits must be used. I understand his logic on using modern music, but it almost insulting for musical lovers.
-The love story- I watched this after having a massive fight with my finance so maybe I was too cynical. But it's so phony and Disney-esque. But how could anybody not be cynical about falling in love in three seconds over a Elton John song?
-the shrieking- how come all through out the first half on the movie every character was to shriek and yell their lines? I found it very annoying.

On a another note Is it just me or does Nicole Kidman seems to beautiful and active for someone who is dying? Also doesn't the Duke look amazingly like David Spade?
Over all a very mixed bag. I'm a musical fan and I wasn't sure what to make of it. From reading the reviews people adore or just don't get it. I'm in the middle.