Make 'um smile, make 'um cry...and make 'um laugh!

Rating: 10/10 (19 June 2012)

Musicals used to be one of the most popular Genres of all time with classic hits like Seven Brides For Seven Brothers, Clamity Jane and Fiddler on the roof. But, like in every Genre, there is always one that rules the roost...
This is my review on Singing In The Rain.
The plot goes like this;
It's the roaring twenties and the silent era of film dominates public entertainment. At this time, Don Lockwood is the most famous man in the film industry staring in hundreds of popular silent films along side his love interest Lina Lamont. When the first ever talking picture is released, directors and producers are forced to leave the era behind and begin making "talkies". Things turn out for the worst when Don's first vocal film is a disaster which would lead to his downfall. However, his best friends Cosmo Brown and Kathy Selden decide to turn things around and persuade Don to transfer the film into a musical before the film ruins his career.
There's no other phrase for it; Singing in the rain is a masterpiece. Trying to pick faults in this film is like trying to pick faults in a perfect diamond- There is none!
So what makes the film so good?
Lets start with the acting. Acting legend Gene Kelly stars as the main character, Don, and his performance is WAY above average. This is the film that turned his career around and there is good reason for this. The way he smiles, the way he laughs- what ever he does you buy the character. His part is quite hard to play and Gene gets the emotions of the character spot on. He also is a fantastic singer, but I will get onto that later. However, while Gene is brilliant, the actor who steals the show is Donald O'Connor's Cosmo Brown. NEVER have I laughed so much at an actor's performance in all my life. There is not a man on earth who can play the part of Cosmo Brown like Donald. You often find yourself looking at I'm even when he is not speaking in case he is making some hysterical facial expression. How he never brakes into i cink of laughing is beyond comprehension, but Cosmo Brown has to be one of the greatest characters in movie history. Finally, Kathy Selden is played by the lovely Debbie Reynolds. Her performance is great, though there isn't as much to say about it as the two actors i mentioned above.
The plot is actually really good for a musical. Musicals are usually pretty basic films with light hearted plots, which is fine, but Singing in the rain delivers more than that. Singing in the rain is definitely great for young children as the plot is easy to follow and there is a lot of funny material in the film to keep them entertained. This is the film children should be watching instead of films that have adult material which children seem to like these days. The film is also great for casual viewers who love music and romance and if you are one of these people, you will be greatly impressed. The film, however, really stands out for die hard film fans as is has all the things above plus a little more. There are lots of references to films before it's time like Lovey Mary and even Citizen Kane. The man plot even revolves around The Jazz Singer, the very first talking film. They could have easily just said that the vocal films are coming into fashion, but this film takes it one step further and actually addresses the actual film that started it all which relates the film to the real world.
The film's greatest feature is it's musical numbers. The music in this film surpasses the music of the modern age by FAR. Each song is lively, innocent, funny and heartwarming and you actually feel the love and emotion that went into writing these marvellous songs. I am only going to address some of the songs cause I would rather you go into the film and be surprised. "Make 'um laugh" (sang by Donald) is the funniest song of the film, which really relates to the title. It consists of Donald pulling of a serious of stunts and I still cant fathom how he did them. You see him bouncing off wall and flirting with an old doll. Garenteed laugh. May favourite song in the whole film the theme song, Singing in the rain. Every time your hear the tune you are instantly prepared to have your heart filled with Joy at the brilliant lyrics. The love song by Gene, which is debatably his best scene in all his acting career. The icon of him hanging happily onto a lamppost is one of the most famous movie symbols of all time- and with good reason!
It's time to wrap the review up. Singing in the rain is so wonderful that words cannot sum it up in one single review. The romance is great, the songs are perfect, the plot is intriguing and the acting is amongst the best in history. This is the film i'll be watching again and again. This is the film I will be sharing with my children. This is one of the best movies ever made!
I'm definitely giving Singing in the rain a 10/10