** Spoilers ahead, so if you haven't seen this film, I highly recommend seeing it and coming back for this. It's so worth it. **
I have finally watched the movie that so many of my friends have been raving about for at least a month now.
"The Greatest Showman" was indeed one of the greatest shows I've seen in a while. It might have topped Disney's 2017 live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast
in terms of the film itself and the songs, at least for my list.It did remind me of a Disney film, and that is by no means is a critique- it was so well done. "The Greatest Showman" encompasses the life of P.T. Barnum; how he was raised and his vision for his dreams to come true someday.
The movie covered so many topics that I could write about forever. I'll leave you with three things I found so interesting about this movie:
I loved the way they encompassed Barnum's family dynamic to make sure the audience knew where he was coming from. He grew up as a tailor's son.
He didn't have much wealth and at the beginning of the movie, it showed his shoes with holes in them from being well worn. The story followed Barnum while making sure that his family was also a key part of his story.
His wife and two daughters played a distinct role in the film. They kept him anchored to the realities of life as he chased his dreams of being a showman. He returns from his tour because he knows life with them is so much greater than being apart from them.
The second thing that stood out to me was the way the relationships were portrayed. In the time period it was set, around the mid-1800s, there was no such thing as an interracial couple. It was unheard of in that day and age.
As someone in an Interracial Relationship, I feel like they addressed this in such a serious but also gentle way. Zac Efron was cast as the rich "ladies' man" named Philip Carlyle and Zendaya was cast as one of the trapeze artists named Anne Wheeler.
In the movie, Philip takes Anne on a date. He sees his parents and they resent him for choosing the circus lifestyle, and they mean this literally and figuratively because Anne is with him. He defends Anne and tells them that his choice has nothing to do with their opinions of her or of others.
I loved the dynamic because their love story wasn't immediate. There was a struggle to become something more. I liked that it wasn't cliché in the way that they got together.
The most interesting thing I thought the movie incorporated was the fact that the singers weren't all professional singers. I know that in this day and age there is no shortage of actors and singers to be cast in a film like this one.
Of course, Zac Efron, Hugh Jackman, and Zendaya have some filmography in their past, but I feel that their parts were not more outstanding than the other actors.
There was really no special importance given to them for being well-known actors. Zendaya and Efron were given important roles even though they weren't necessarily the lead.
This film was so well done and I would definitely see it again in theaters.
