This is not a story about love

Rating: Null/10 (26 May 2001)

Music and production design, as in all Baz Luhrmann's films, are the primary attraction here. This film looks and sounds utterly spectacular. But this very spectacle works against the film's declared theme.
Luhrmann and co-writer Pearce evidently think that having their hero walk around repeatedly proclaiming that "this is a story about love" somehow makes it so. It doesn't. It may well be the case that "the greatest thing you'll ever learn is to love, and to be loved in return", but rather than being told so ad nauseum, I'd much rather be told a story which demonstrates it. On that count, the Christian/Satine love story fails miserably. It is escalated so rapidly and explored so superficially (the use of pop lyrics not helping) that it's hardly even moving, let alone a compelling argument for love as the meaning of life. Every moment of potential connection between character and audience is thrust aside for another visual or aural display. Luhrmann and Pearce could get away with this as an approach to "Romeo + Juliet" because their source text was one of the greatest love stories ever told. All they had to do was cut it without messing it up, which they barely managed. But not here. With "Moulin Rouge" the storytelling is left up to them, and they clearly aren't up to it. This is not a story about love. It's not really a story about anything. One is left with the suspicion that what we have here is either a lecture on the history of romantic musicals, or a two-hour commercial for a CD.
Still, it's entertaining enough. Nicole and Ewan are both amazing, and seeing Jim Broadbent and Richard Roxburgh - the greatest Shakespearean actor I've had the pleasure of seeing - perform "Like A Virgin" is worth the price of admission alone. For me, Roxburgh entirely steals the show. We can now forgive him for "M:I-2".