An extraordinary number of critics didn't deal with this film fairly...

Rating: 10/10 (3 March 2019)

This film is a wonderful musical. It is filled with catchy songs and the sort of flash that make musicals such experiences. Jackman, Efron, etc. are all deeply entertaining and bring such joy to the story that it is impossible to not be caught up in the sheer spectacle of the film. The film is all style but it is the sort of cinematic treat that is one needs now and then. It is the film equivalent of big old banana split. On the most basic level it is an old fashion musical fantasia of a rag to riches form. It is great on that level. It is also great when you start thinking about the film in connection to the history.
Now an extraordinary critics, and others, decided that the film being wildly inaccurate to the real PT Barnum was a problem; this is why it got such mixed reviews. It is true the film is largely only uses the most basic outline of Barnum's life. But why on Earth would you expect anything else?
Barnum, the real guy, was a prince of humbug. Of course a film about him is going to be humbug. This is a guy who held a public autopsy to prove he had been lying for years about a woman's age. He, accidentally, boiled to death two whales and sold tickets to show them off after. He was preening self-promoter and tricked people constantly. To increase traffic in the museum he put up a sign to trick people to leave faster (the famous this way to the egress). Why on Earth would you walk into a film about Barnum expecting honesty? Early on in the film Barnum is slapped for being honest! Getting mad this film is humbug is no different than getting mad that a drama wasn't funny. Yeah it's not. But that's on your misplaced expectations.
Now it can be objected that the film turned Barnum into a very likable hero when he was a jerk (he killed at least 6 whales for example). I guess that is true if you ignore every detail of the script. The script makes it clear that 1) the film is from Barnum's perspective and 2) Barnum has an overarching need to be respected by respectable people. The film's whitewashing of Barnum's life makes him seem worse because in context it comes across as a shameless self-promoter lying to hide how awful he was. This is most obvious in how the Lind episode is handled.
The film is knowing humbug, exactly how Barnum would have done it. Critics can dislike what they want; they are not allowed to mangle a text as they did in this case.