True to P.T. Barnum as it is All One Large, Entertaining Lie

Rating: 6/10 (1 January 2018)

The Greatest Showman is true to P.T. Barnum as it is all one large, entertaining lie. While it is inspired by Barnum's life, the movie plays so heavily on fictionalizing who Barnum was that in the end, the movie is far more fiction than it is a representation of reality and I am curious as to why the studio did not choose to make this movie be based entirely around a fictitious person.
Hugh Jackman shines in his performance as Barnum, dazzling in his charisma and endlessly appealing as he sings and dances through well-constructed pop songs. Jackman is a nice casting choice as he is Barnum's polar opposite. Barnum was an ugly person, physically unattractive and morally repugnant. Jackman is quite the opposite. This movie is worth seeing solely for Jackman's performance.
But aside from Jackman, there remains no compelling reason to have the story centred on Barnum, particularly centred on Barnum as a hero. This movie shows some of Barnum's flaws and self-centred nature, but overlooks the majority of his flaws, such as his racism and his cruelty. The Greatest Show had a long history of abusing the people and animals in its employ, eventually leading to its closure in May after the protests towards the treatment of the animals overwhelmed them. This movie conveniently glosses over the fact that Barnum and the Greatest Show was built and run on cruelty and manipulation.
Additionally, for a movie about spectacle and awe, The Greatest Showman lacks any of the marvel that the Greatest Show was known for. The scenes inside the circus (aside from Zendaya's Anne Wheeler and Zac Effron's Phillip Carlyle's number "Rewrite the Stars") were solely song and dance pieces, lacking flare. The closest the film came to recreating the Greatest Show was in its last number, which was far too short and had clear technical manipulation. Overall, the film fell victim to revealing that it was, indeed, a movie far too many times. If Barnum and the Greatest Show dealt in lies and deceit in order to produce spectacle, this movie dropped realism to create visually interesting action. Laundry sheets all turned to the sky in an early number with Charity Barnum (Michelle Williams) and Barnum, reminding the audience that the film is a crafted, manipulated performance put on for them, something the Greatest Show would never have allowed for.
With the number of fictionalized aspects of this film, it is a wonder they made the film about Barnum at all. One of the most compelling story lines revolved around Anne and Phillip falling in love and trying to be together in a racist world where their social status was keeping them apart. Both of these characters are not based on real people and were completely created for this story, so why not have the whole film focus around other crafted characters? If Barnum was a necessity, why not focus on the issues Anne and Phillip faced inside the circus with a racist huckster for a ringmaster?
As many critics have rightfully pointed out, this movie leaves out much of what would have made a P.T. Barnum musical interesting, which is the fact that P.T. Barnum was a liar, a huckster, and a showman. He did strange and bizarre things in order to draw an audience, and the closest this movie comes to exploring it is when Barnum takes a loan from the bank using boats that had sunk to the bottom of the sea.
This movies biggest failing is wasted potential and choosing to go a cliched route of underdog who triumphs rather than exploring the multiple different routes of more unique and interesting storytelling.
It is a fun film with good performances and catchy music, but it loses much to wasted potential.