perfect musical for the MTV generation

Rating: Null/10 (31 May 2001)

Baz Luhrman has put together a musical starring two non-singers (though with decent voices) and featuring dance numbers cut up into so many little pieces that they register as not much more than retinal images. The hodge-podge of songs, some good, some bad, and all modern, sometimes undercut the story, such as it is, and sometimes just crack the audience up. The camerawork is frequently dizzying, and the tone veers from mocking to mawkish to affecting, which is pretty dizzying in itself. He seems to have jammed together two movies, one which is knowing and postmodern and hyperactive and another which takes its boy-meets-girl, boy-loses-girl story seriously. Yes, there was applause when it finally ended, but a few people walked out as well. I would have too, especially after the first few songs which were cut at about three shots a second. To put these comments in perspective, of the seven people I saw it with, I probably liked it the least.