If you're a sucker for tragic romance, and music...you're in for a treat!

Rating: 10/10 (25 June 2001)

Moulin Rouge is a great movie....for some people. It's one of those "love it, hate it" movies---I, personally, loved it. All of my friends loved it; in fact, everyone I know that's seen it has loved it, a lot of them have and seen it twice. Compare it with Baz Luhrman's "Romeo and Juliet" for the sweeping, tragic, romance. Compare it with an artsy music video for the cinematography. Then compare it with your Greatest Hits from the Last 30 Years CD for the soundtrack. It's about 1/2 opera, 1/2 dialogue. Imagine such songs as "Your Song", "Roxanne", and "Like A Virgin" as key scenes in the movie, only all songs tweaked to be "broadway"nized. Ewan McGregor's performance is quite good, and his voice proves to be pretty decent, too. (I enjoyed his rendition of Elton John's `Your Song' better than the original!) Nicole Kidman is in a typical `unattainable goddess' role, with pretty good acting (not as impressive as McGregor's emotional performance), and with an I-Got-the-Lead-in-a-few-High-School-Musicals voice. Be prepared to be open-minded for the first 20 minutes (it's a little weird in the beginning), but to be delighted with the rest of the film. And BE OPEN MINDED! You should love it!