Musical Hokum

Rating: 6/10 (1 January 2018)

JIM'S REVIEW: The Greatest Showman has its heart in the right place, but it unfortunately never achieves its musical goal. It invests a lot, and I mean a lot, of talent and hard work with very little dividend.
The songs are foot-stomping, uplifting, and hummable tunes, but become derivative imitations of themselves. Every musical number sounds and looks alike with no modulation. Even the ballads are slow-downed versions of other songs in the film. The original score by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul lacks range, a deliberate sameness creeps in for most musical moments, but their music definitely delivers in energetic peppiness with toe-tapping "feel-good" form. They are experts in writing clever "hooks". The modern choreography is more 2017 variety than 1917 period but is very well done. Kudos to Ashley Wallen and his accomplished dancers for stomping their way into your hearts.
Nathan's Crowley's lovely production design sings out, as does the costumes created by Ellen Mirojnick. Michael Gracey's solid direction is fluid and successfully captures the nostalgic musical origins of the big Hollywood musicals of yore (although think what these filmmakers could have done with Cy Coleman's far superior Broadway musical gem, Barnum!).
The major problem with the film, and it is a major issue, is the paper thin plot that follows the most predictable of story-lines. Whenever the singing and dancing stops, so does the film. The screenplay by Jenny Bicks and Bill Condon is a real letdown, with underwritten characters and petty conflicts all under the big top in a very conventional way. Their script is mostly an outline to serve the musical moments and rarely advances the plot. The relationships are all strained beyond reality and each character seems to be a mere prop device to lead into the next musical interlude.
The casting is a mixed bag also. Hugh Jackman is really the greatest showman, more so than Barnum himself. He is a natural song and dance man. Watching him move with such grace and charisma is almost worth the price of admission (but there is that awful script, remember). Michelle Williams is his loving wife, Charity, and she is given so little to do to showcase her musical talents. Zac Efron as rich playboy, Phillip Carlyle, tries hard, but just doesn't have the musical ability, no matter how they edit the movie. Zendaya plays his love interest and their love story seems like a second thought. Their romance may convince a giddy twelve-year-old girl about the things we do for love, but it left me questioning the things they did for a paycheck.
Perhaps the weakest link is the usually dependable Rebecca Ferguson, totally miscast as the operatic Jenny Lind. Supposedly this world renown singer and crowd-pleasing attraction to Barnum's circus of oddities, wowed the patrons back then. However, the singing on the screen could never come near a high C. Ms. Ferguson's performance is more like a B-flat. (In creating such an important supporting role, it is beyond me why the filmmakers couldn't find an attractive and trained opera singer to fill the bill. Go to the Met and take your pick.)
So, even though the movie is entertaining on a musical level, The Greatest Showman is plain hokum, albeit nice-looking hokum. There is plenty of razzle-dazzle on display although it is just painted cardboard and glitter that remains. As Barnum would say, "There is one born every minute." (Even though Ms. Lind could not hit that high C, the film's earned that grade from this critic.)