Old Man Show-gon

Rating: 8/10 (20 December 2018)

Second viewing for "The Greatest Showman" following seeing it at the cinema towards the end of 2017.
Hugh Jackman is PT Barnum, who rises from poverty via a job on the railroad to become the owner and purveyor of a museum of oddities in New York City, to more legitimate forms of entertainment. The film charts that rise and the effect it has on his family, including his wife who he has loved since their childhood.
Whilst I do think that "The Greatest Showman" is an excellent musical, as a legitimate biopic of PT Barnum or even as a film it's not as worthwhile. A bit of research shows its massively inaccurate and there just isn't enough conflict to his adult life to make it worthwhile story to tell. Critics don't like him, but people show up. He turns his back on his circus cast to promote an opera singer, they sing a song about it and then forgive him. He nearly has an affair and his wife leaves him, she comes back the first time he sees her.
The songs though, are undeniable. They're all catchy and memorable and it's not surprising that so many of them have taken on lives of their own outside of the film. They're all performed and choreographed well. The blending in of CGI elements into some of them only enhances the experience on some of the songs and the direction, for a first full feature, is excellent.
I doubt it'd be the one to win over any musical theatre holdouts but if you're anyway inclined towards the genre, I'm confident you'll enjoy it.