All style and no substance.

Rating: 2/10 (28 May 2003)

*spoiler within*
A perfect example of the decline of artistry in popular culture, not only in itself but in the insidious popularity it gained. Moulin Rouge was repeatedly lauded for being "artistic" by its fans. No description could be less apt. The dizzying camera effects, the lavish sets and sequinned costumes, and the purchased rights to sample just about every pop song from the last thirty years: these are not the visions of an artist; they are the machinations of an egomaniac with a morbidly obese budget.
All chance of subtlety destroyed in the first few minutes, Moulin Rouge goes on to state its three virtues: "truth, beauty, and most of all love," which it will repeat the names of ad nauseum. Let's look at those one by one. Truth is utterly lacking in this film. Set in a turn-of-the-century whorehouse, the production is glitzier than Broadway's "42nd Street." Neither this nor the utterly generic plot lends any bit of credence to its claims of truth. Beauty is not to be found either, as the film is so gaudy that even Nicole Kidman can not stand out. Her quiet, nymph-like beauty does not go well at all with her surroundings, and she appears pale and sickly (only foreshadowing the end by sheer dumb luck). That brings me to love, which is the the most sorely lacking part of the movie. At what point do the main characters fall in love? Never. Their relationship consists of idiotic musical numbers and the word "love" bounced back and forth faster than a ping pong ball carrying the plague. Anyone duped by the embarrassing sincerity of Kidman and Ewan McGregor, both good enough actors to force out their hokey lines, clearly does not know what love is. And "Sparkling diamond?" Are you kidding me?
I try to watch this movie every time it's on cable. I *try* to watch it, but I've never forced myself to sit through five minutes of it since I saw it in the theater. The musical numbers are too embarrassing (with the exception of the cover of The Police's "Roxanne"), the acting too earnest (with the exception of Jim Broadbent, who is always cool no matter what), and the dialogue too ridiculous (with no exception- none at all).