Tailor-fit to Jackman's skills

Rating: 7/10 (22 January 2018)

THE GREATEST SHOWMAN (2017) **1/2 Hugh Jackman, Michelle Williams, Zac Efron, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Austyn Johnson, Cameron Seely, Keala Settle, Sam Humphrey. Tailor-fit to Jackman's skills in song-and-dance the biography of PT Barnum works well as a musical largely thanks to the hearty performance by its lead and the ensemble cast with Broadway worthy set pieces (thanks to songs by John Debney, Benj Pasek, Justin Paul & Joseph Trapanese) and wonderful direction by Michael Gracey, the screenplay by Jenny Bicks and Bill Condon tends to bend before it breaks with the holier-than-thou interpretation of a professional humbug salesman who created a circus of world wide recognition the likes never seen before.