I love musicals. I enjoy movie musicals too, but a lot of the time, they don't turn out that great. Many movie musicals tend to make the fatal mistakes of using too much autotune (like in "The Beauty and the Beast" live-action remake), cutting out too much from the original musical (like in the "Rent" movie), and/or hiring actors that can't sing (like in the "Les Miserables" movie).
But when I sat down to see "The Greatest Showman," I was captivated. Not only were the songs (written by Pasek and Paul, the same duo behind "La La Land" and "Dear Evan Hansen") amazing, but the musical scenes were executed beautifully, and the singing and acting was amazing. I left that theater thinking "this is a movie musical done right".
After seeing the movie, I was really disappointed to see that critics had given it a 55% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. But then I looked over to see the audience rating and it was 89%.
This audience-critic disconnect is concerning. I've also seen so many critics and film aficionados on YouTube make entire videos just dedicated to bashing this movie. But why?
It seems that the main critiques are that the movie is historically inaccurate, it's too cliché, and that it just lacks in substance overall.
Now I will grant the critics that this movie isn't that accurate to the real PT Barnum's life. But you know which other movies also aren't historically accurate? "Saving Mr. Banks," which as a 79% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes. Also, "JFK" isn't accurate, and that has a score of 85%.
Historical or based-on-a-true-story movies don't actually have to be true to be enjoyable. Generally, audiences go into these movies knowing that a lot will be changed. If I wanted the harrowing true story of PT Barnum's life, I would watch a documentary, not a movie musical.
When it comes to the clichés and "lack of substance," my honest response is "who cares"?
Movies were basically invented to be an escape from our everyday world. They're supposed to entertain us and make us feel things.
Recently, many movies have been made to be more artful or thought-provoking and deep rather than just enjoyable. Those movies are great, but not every movie has to have a deep meaning. "The Greatest Showman" is not "La La Land" and it doesn't have to be "La La Land."
Sure, we've heard the phrases "dreaming with your eyes wide open" and "this is me" a million times, but they're still great phrases! If it ain't broke, don't fix it!
I just want to feel something at my core without critics walking all over it for not being deep or complex enough.
If you aren't on board yet, just watch this clip of one of the songs from the movie.
This video is the ultimate stress relief. It just makes me smile every time I watch it. You can clearly see that every person in that room is in love with the beautiful music and is so passionate about this project. They genuinely love doing this and that love shines through in the finished product.
In the movie, even the smallest side character or background dancer is so invested in the story and/or the performances. That pure joy and love for their craft is what makes this movie so great to watch. Their passion is infectious.
Who cares if there are clichés and it's not gritty and "real"?
The joy myself and thousands of other people got from watching this movie is the only real thing I need.
