Predictable predictable

Rating: 3/10 (19 July 2001)

Boy, where do I begin.
I hated this movie. Trying to sum up quickly what I didn't like isn't going to be easy. Let's start with the plot: I've seen Shakespeare in Love, so why watch an almost identical story about unrequitable love in the theatre?Especially one as predictable as this.
The Editing: Fast and messy, with absolutely no finesse. I thought the camera movements and cuts would relate in some way to the tempo and flow of the songs, but instead we are treated to random zooms, spins and 50 cuts a minute until we feel (or at least I did) rather unwell.
The Songs: What a heavy handed use of pop songs. A song about a prostitute? Oh, lets use Roxanne. In the name of love, Like a virgin, all you need is love, all too predictable. I was hoping for a really clever use of a song to make us see it in a different way. For me, the only tune that achieved that was 'Your Song' by Elton John. Unfortunately, this tune appeared during the most embarrasing scene of the movie.
The Arrangements: This for me is where the movie really failed. Every song (bar Roxanne, which was brilliantly done) received EXACTLY the same treatment. That is, each number would start with a few spoken words, which would then progress slowly (oh, so slowly) into tune. then some strings or a keyboard comes in and the tune picks up pace a bit. Building to a crescendo of huge orchestral accompaniment and high pitched screeching and then...silence. The music stops and our star quietly sings the last line. Again and again. The unoriginal arrangement is hindered further by the fact that we already know all the words, so while the stars are plodding along we are already a verse and a chorus ahead, waiting for them to catch up. I HATED what they did with the songs in this movie.
The Choreography: Average. I liked the Indian dancing at the end, but there wasn't enough of it shown. The Dancing during Like a virgin and especially the scene with the Duke in the Elephant were excrutiating.
The Stars: Nicole Kidman was fantastic, with a solid voice. But Ewan Macgregor, Jim Broadbent, John Leguizamo & especially the Duke fellow were all awful.
The Directing: On the whole, fairly solid. The movie certainly had fantastic production values. However, the one thing that really grated me was Baz's use of a slow motion strobe effect to convey moments of drama. This technique worked best in Strictly Ballroom when our hero came sliding onto the dancefloor on his knees in the finale. It really hit you in the gut. But in Moulin Rouge we see the same trick every time Nicole had a little cough. Or when we saw the bad guy, or indeed in any moment of 'high drama'. This seriously diluted the desired punch and became way too repetitive. Also, using the exact same zooms and pans every time we go from Exans hotel room to the Moulin Rouge becomes so very tedious.
Now you may have read this thinking that this movie is just not to my taste, but you'd be wrong. I loved Strictly Ballroom, Shakespeare in Love, Rocky Horror picture show, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, The Red Shoes, My Fair Lady etc. etc. I have nothing against musicals, or kitsch movies or any of that. On top of all this I was really looking forward to the movie. I just cannot praise a musical with badly sung, badly arranged & badly filmed tunes, that has a plot stolen from any number of other romantic drama/comedies and does absolutely nothing new with it except sprinkle on a bit of glitter.