First viewing: hated it. Second viewing? Loved it.

Rating: 7/10 (28 December 2018)

I first came across P.T. Barnum while doing some research for a project I was working on about Wunderkammer, or cabinets of curiosities. Barnum was many things - certainly complex - but he was not a nice man, and an egotist to the extreme.
Being at least vaguely familiar with Barnum tempered my initial viewing of the film, though it's hard not to like the songs and set pieces. Barnum here is a sympathetic, though flawed figure, and we're supposed to believe he was a benevolent employer and all-round good guy.
The Greatest Showman is best described as a historical fantasy. (Most of) the characters were real and some of the events depicted were real, but that's more or less it. It's best to approach it as fantasy rather than a historical, rather like 300. The artistic license has been taken to new extremes - it's a rather politically correct history.
This irritated me on my initial viewing. The film ignores - completely - some of Barnum's more shady enterprises, including slavery. While it makes some attempt to look at other issues, including an interracial relationship and the promotion of 'freaks' for money-making purposes, it's puddle deep. Character development is thin on the ground (at one point, Hugh Jackman's Barnum makes it clear his 'freaks' are unwelcome to a swanky reception, which prompts Keala Settle's Lettie Lutz to sing 'This is Me' - the film's signature anti-bullying song - but all seems to be forgiven immediately)
There's definitely a place in the film market for a biopic of Barnum's life and works, because that would be fantastic. This is not it. Nevertheless, I watched it again recently and just let myself relax and enjoy it. Do this, and it's an extremely enjoyable film. It's beautifully filmed. You could pause it at any point and print out the still and you'd be happy to have it framed on your wall. Performances are all-round spectacular. If you're like me and you're more used to seeing Jackman murdering people with adamantium claws then you'll be seriously impressed by this man's extraordinary talent. He can sing. Really, really well.
Songs like A Million Dreams, This is Me and The Greatest Show will bring a smile to your face - you'll have to really fight it from forming if you're determined to be a cynic.
It's a little corny and in places overly sentimental. I wish they'd added just a little more depth to it and given some of Barnum's performers proper subplots, as opposed to Zac Effron's mostly forgettable Philip Carlyle.
All in all, it's just fun, and that's absolutely fine. You're allowed to have fun and just enjoy a show. After all, this is what Barnum did: he was a showman. It didn't matter if that show was based upon fakery, lies and exploitation - he entertained people who wanted to be entertained, and that was all he pretended to do. That, probably, is the essence of this film, and honestly I don't care.
So if you're like me and tend to be a bit pedantic and naturally critical, treat yourself to a bottle of wine, let your brain stew a little in the alcohol and let yourself be entertained.