those of you who frequently read my reviews are not likely to be surprised by the fact that i have not read victor hugo 's novel les miserables .
i do n't know if a lot of people have , though i imagine many are familiar with the popular musical based on the novel .
i have n't even seen that . going into this film , i had almost no knowledge of the story or its characters ( i even expected the film to be a musical ) .
walking away from it , i 'm kind of glad i had no prior experience with the material .
writer / director bille august 's film version is a straightforward , beautifully told film .
liam neeson stars as the miserable jean valjean ; in the beginning , he has just been released from a 19-year prison sentence .
he is allowed to stay in a convent by a kindly priest despite his rude and destructive behavior .
the priest 's words of wisdom influence him , and he makes a vow to change himself .
nine years later , we are informed that he is now the mayor of a town called vigo ; nobody knows his real name , and that he is wanted for skipping his parole nine years ago .
conflicts arise when inspector javert ( geoffrey rush ) is assigned to vigo .
valjean remembers javert as one of the prison guards who constantly beat him , and javert remembers jean to be a convict .
javert is hell - bent on upholding the law , and he does everything in his power to bring jean to justice .
along the way , valjean meets and falls in love with a peasant woman , fantine ( uma thurman ) , and vows to take care of her daughter , cosette ( played later by claire danes ) .
les miserables is visually a solid and often striking picture .
the production design by anna asp is authentic and vast , and the sets do n't look like sets ( they look like real towns and villages ) ; gabriella pescucci 's costumes are noticeably spectacular .
basil poledouris ' soundtrack is thick and usually well - placed ( though it does get a bit heavy at times ) .
many scenes in the film have a memorable photographic quality , such as the climax , which takes place next to a dark river in the grey obscurity of early evening .
augusts keeps the story simple ( which i hear is a good thing , since the novel is so complex ) and easy to follow .
he manages to develop the main characters and most of the subplots adequately .
i was also impressed that he did n't go overboard with flash and style , which is something so many directors seem to be doing to classic stories these days ( such as baz luhrmann 's vicious tragedy william shakespeare 's romeo + juliet ) .
this film feels solid and whole , and each scene has a certain amount of importance and vigor that keeps the audience interested .
liam neeson is terrific in the main role ; neeson is the kind of actor who does solemn desperation extremely well , and valjean is certainly a man who clearly fits that adjective .
thurman , in her small role , is very good , and proves that she has a lot of range and can perform in a very non - glamorous role such as this one .
rush is absolutely incredible as javert ; i do n't remember ever feeling so strongly about a villain as i do here ; he adds depth and complexity with subtle glances and nuances , and effortlessly makes each of his scenes intense .
i ca n't be as charitable for danes , however ; though i know she is a talented actress , here she tends to overact when it might have been better to underplay the character a bit .
les miserables is , as i 've said , a solid , intelligent motion picture .
my only complaint is that it feels a bit too easy , and perhaps too staged .
each scene is grand and huge , and exploding with poledouris ' score , but i did n't always want them to be .
for the most part , les miserables is not a subtle or deep picture .
it 's a good movie , and tells its story well , but august tends to hand - feed us themes and scenes that would have worked better
had they been more subtle .
however , in a film this exciting and well - produced , a few minor flaws are easily overlooked .
Output: P