Save Your Money

Rating: 1/10 (4 June 2001)

Ewan McGregor can surely sing! However, even his incredible talent cannot save this nightmare. After sifting through 45 minutes of disjointed pop remakes (after identifying the setting as 1900 Paris) and unusual camera angles, the viewer is finally rewarded with - gasp - a PLOT. (that is, if you were one of the patrons who did not walk out by this point. During the show I went to, 12 did.) The plot seemed to have a lot of promise. There are great acting performances in this film by both leads, but their love affair happens too quickly to ever be believable. They literally sing a remake and poof, both are in love. Nothing is surprising at this point. Maybe I missed the point of using pop music in a film about the Moulin Rouge, but it seemed to have no point whatsoever - other than, perhaps, reaching its target audience of young teens. It would also have been nice, since the film identifies Toulouse-Latrec, to have made him less of a buffoon and perhaps have mentioned (more than a brief second introduction) that he was an artist. If he could have been any buffoon, maybe he should have been someone without a world-renowned reputation. But if you want to see pop glorified, this is your film. You will not be disappointed by McGregor.