A Visual Treat but Narratively Weak

Rating: 7/10 (2 January 2018)

PT Barnum is the greatest carny to have ever lived. This is the undeniable truth every Connecticut resident should have drilled into them from cradle to the grave. This film, it doesn't seem to capture his greatness, his autobiography makes a far more interesting tale, but it at least provides for an interesting diversion. The music is good and the choreography is excellent, the story while watered down at least flows well so as to keep your interest. Its just that instead of the greatest showman they present an unnecessarily family friendly imitation.
This needs repeating, the choreography is top notch. There is so much going on in every song and dance it can't all be caught in a single viewing. Their timing is perfect, the bar scene where shots are being slid, caught, and downed is so fluid its like watching the waves crashing into the shore. Everything is perfectly natural, like going to an actual Barnum & Bailey show (RIP). That is until they bring in the animals. Its hard to believe that they couldn't find any animal trainers for this movie, I know quite a few that could use the work, but the CGI is an abomination. Tom Thumb riding the horse looks like hot garbage, the elephants in the musical number look faker than if it was a man in a mask,. and the horses in the final number... they are a three frame gif. Considering everything else they had shown throughout the film, its just unacceptable.
The writing is the weakest point of the movie, there is no conflict. Disregarding how it strayed from the actual life of PT Barnum, the caricature they give has no real trouble. He goes from being laid off when his employer goes belly up to success in half of the first act. He goes from shunned by high society to well respectable impressario in two scenes. He loses everything an rebuilds in one scene. Everything he does is trivialized by his immediate success so soon afterward to such a degree that nothing seems to matter. And the way they solve these problems are infuriating. A struggling business venture solved by his daughter with one line as he tucks her in the very next scene after the only person he could sell tickets to was his family. There is no build, the answer is given to him plain as day by a literal plot device. Its impossible to write a review with spoilers, there is absolutely nothing here to spoil.
The major flaw with Barnum is simply this, he has no flaws. This could be said somewhat about the real man, he was an otherwise upright man who supported emancipation, charity, and family friendly entertainment, but to his core he was a carny. His early career was rife with trickery, from the Feejee Mermaid to exit signs written in other languages so that visitors had to pay to get back in. He was a great talker never to be left outside arm's reach. The film never goes into that. They say he is the King of Humbuggery, but he does little to warrant the title. In fact, they even go to great lengths to over up his exploits. Tom Thumb is introduced at 25, a dwarf hidden away by his mother. He was adopted by the real Barnum at 4 and started performing at 5. It gets to the point that the only real connection between the two is a name and a gift of gab.
I don't think this is a terrible movie. Reading the 11 questions from EW and some of the professional reviews really makes it sound worse than it is. Its just a lacking movie. A movie about the man who watered down his stage play of Uncle Tom's Cabin to make it family friendly, its only fitting they do the same to him. I just have to question why they chose to put a trailer for The Commuter with a scene of a man being pushed in front of a bus before it. Right after the Gnome sequel too. In fact, I question why most of the trailers were included when only one seemed age appropriate.