What an ATROCITY!

Rating: Null/10 (1 June 2001)

Just because a director does something daring with a movie, it doesn't mean that the movie is worthwhile (or worth its ticket price). That's the case with Baz Luhrmann's highly anticipated (and highly disappointing) "Moulin Rouge". I went to see this movie in the afternoon--I paid five dollars for the ticket, and those are five dollars I wish I would've spent on something else! I don't know anything about Luhrmann or his career as a director. But, if he hasn't been a music video director, then he should be...and that's exactly what this movie should've been--a music video instead of a movie. I mean, modern-day songs mixed into a movie about late-nineteenth century Paris??? The performers in the Moulin Rouge were actually singing "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and "Lady Marmalade". Nicole Kidman was swinging on a trapeze actually singing "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend". And that was just the beginning. Then there's all the love songs sung by Ewan McGregor (he even sings the love song from "An Officer and A Gentleman"). Both he and Kidman can sing well, but c'mon! When I first heard that this movie was being filmed, I thought that it was going to be a remake of the 1952 film of the same name. No way can you compare that drama masterpiece to this musical-gone-mad. This movie is nothing more than a visual showcase...a spectacle. It's pretty to look at. It contains terrific sets, beautiful color schemes, dazzling costumes and hypnotic cinematography. This movie's charm does not go beyond its visuals. I actually walked out of this movie in the middle of it--and I have sat through some really terrible movies before, till the very end. In the case of this movie, after I had to listen to the umpteenth million modern-day song, I couldn't take it anymore. I realized that the best thing for me to do was to just get up and leave...even though I wouldn't be getting back my five dollars. Mind you, I'm only 26 years old and I consider this movie an overdone disaster. The director aimed for too much high energy in this movie. If you want to see a worthwhile musical, rent one (let me suggest "Cabaret").