I loved the "Love-it-or-Hate-It" movie of the year

Rating: 10/10 (5 January 2002)

CONTAINS SPOILERS! I just love original movies that are made by professionals that are willing to take a chance. Any idiot can buy some dynamite and blow things up, capture it on film and call it a movie. It's been done thousands of times, and I'm tired of it. This movie was a welcome diversion from Hollywood's usual rehashed stuff. Like a lot of people, I thought "MTV clone" during the first 15 minutes. After the film settled down, I was mesmerized by the performances of not only the stars Nicole Kidman and Ewan MacGregor, but the supporting cast as well. Each supporting actor seemed to be the right fit for their respective parts. The recurring sentiment of "The show must go on" spoke volumes about the struggles of everyday life, and the resolve people have to overcome obstacles. I thought that using modern music worked sometimes, and didn't work at other times, but overall, I can't think of anything that I would change. My wife got the DVD for Christmas, and after we watched it twice, and it's going around the circuit to friends who wanted to see it, too. I would recommend this movie to anyone. Even if you don't like musicals, give this one a try at least once. Like us, you may be quite surprised and were glad that you took the plunge into a film that is visually stunning and quite unique.