We had it comin'- the return of the musical film that is. Moulin Rouge was a pleasant surprise when it emmerged as a fun, classy, sparkly romp, but it was quite modern in approach and didn't share the magic sparkle of the classics, such as Singin' In The rain, Carousel etc. Chicago does achieve this though, in a way not experienced in the last twenty years at least. The dance routines are spectacular and the performances strong, although I felt that the camera work lessened the impact of the choreography, especially in the Cell Block Tango. Every song is seen as a performanceon stage, through the eyes of Roxie Hart the central character. This works well, as opposed to the risky business of bursting into a song and dance in the middle of a scene, say in a prison or courtroom. The director has cunningly used this concept of Roxie's fantasies to avoid this, a point which some of the films critics seem to have missed.
For me the star of the show is Catherine Zeta Jones, although it pains me to say so. Her background in musical theatre (42nd Street at Drury Lane; Italia Conti Stage School) is clear, as she is strong in all three disaplines- singing, dancing and acting. She is close to being the definative Velma Kelly, with a corking belter voice and assured, acidic acting. Her talents are showcased perfectly in All That Jazz, and I Cant't Do It Alone, which is another number that suffered from slightly flawed camera work, as Zeta Jones does sme pretty nifty soft shoe tap (in knee high boots) which is slightly lost. My only critisism of her performance is that she is sometimes a bit, well, butch. This means she loses a certain amount of sex appeal to just make the role complete.
Renee Zellweger is surprisingly brilliant, especially with her acting. Her voice is also well suited to the jazzy numbers she has to perform such as Funny Honey and Roxie. She gives the role spark and has fantstic screen presence.
In my opinion, Richard Gere is a slight dissapointment, but in no way gives a bad performance. He just seems to be a bit to old for the role, and has lost some of his sex appeal as well. On his first appearance in All I Care About, I was shocked to discover he had gone for the cheeky chappy and slightly cockney approach. I realised ths wasn't quite the case though, and he gives a good rendition, as he also does in Razzle Dazzle. His solo tap dance is pretty damn good, although yet again, we don't see much of his feet doing he steps, we hear the taps more than anything.
Of the other parts, Queen Latifah shows a lot of charisma and booms her way through When You're Good To mama, John C. Reilly gives a poigniant rendition of Mister Cellophane, and Lucy Liu puts in a feisty cameo as Kitty baxter.
For me the best numbers are Cell Block Tango, I Can't Do it Alone and We Bothe Reached For the Gun which is very clever and fun to watch. The satirical storyline is also relevant to today; fame hungry 'celebreties' manipulating and courting the press. This musical has great direction, outstanding individual and ensemble performances, and just that general tingly 'WOW' feeling, that can only come from a musiclal. This is a profound triumph, here's to many more film musicals to come!
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Music / Performing Arts, Comedy - Director: Trevor Nunn, Geoffrey Posner - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, Parental Guidance - Starring: Duncan Preston, Celia Imrie, Julie Walters, Victoria Wood, Jim Broadbent
Excellent op. Curiously, this is the only film in which I have ever been impressed by Catherine Zeta-Jones.
KarenUK 07.10.2003 00:12
I love Chicago too, it's brilliant, especially CZJ :-) Have you voted for Chicago at www.channel4.com/greatest as they are doing a show about the best musicals.
Oct 6th, 2003
very helpful by (91%):
helpful by (9%):
