Stick with it, and you will be rewarded

Rating: 8/10 (3 March 2002)

This is the type of movie that I am usually predisposed to dislike -- an overhyped production that starts off as a mess, which Moulin Rouge definitely does. While the first 15 minutes of the film are almost unintelligible, they are visually stunning, and that was enough to keep me going. After quite a while, the actual plot appears, and while it's hardly original, it provided a good framework upon which to hang all the rest of the weirdness that follows.
An ensemble cast performs magnificently and that's the real attraction of Moulin Rouge. Nicole Kidman redeems herself here as Santine, the courtesan with a heart of gold -- she's truly stunning, both as an actress and a vocalist. Ewan MacGregor surprises me with his earnestness, vitality, and naivete as Christian, the young writer. Jim Broadbent deserves his Oscar nomination as Zidler, the complicated proprietor of the Moulin Rouge. On the other end of the spectrum, the Duke is played as Snidely Whiplash by Richard Roxbourgh with no shadings whatsoever, and John Leguizamo is just ridiculous as Toulouse-Lautrec, affecting both a poor French accent and a ludicrous lisp.
However, the use of contemporary music (and mostly old pop songs) bothered me throughout the entire movie. I don't believe that an original piece of music was presented until almost an hour had gone by. Instead, we get several riffs on Elton John, the Beatles, the disco era -- "Voulez-vous couchez avec moi"? Come on. It serves to pull this viewer out of the flow of the story. I didn't really become absorbed until much later on, when the scenery stopped being so intrusive, the quick cuts and speed-up/slow-down effects subsided, and anachronistic songs gave way to some beautiful original work that actually had something to do with the story. The choreography got pretty silly, too, especially toward the beginning.
All in all, a visual feast and a belatedly engaging story combine with mostly brilliant performances to deliver a very entertaining film. It's not my favorite, but I give it an 8.