THE GREATEST SHOWMAN: Official Reviews/Reactions (SPOILERS)

[jo]

Some reviews coming in late but a good reading of the movie, such as this one --

www.journal-topics.com/articles/greatest-showman-a-bonafide-toe-tapper/

[jo]

And a review from a student focus, which came in early on --

www.breezejmu.org/culture/the-greatest-showman-is-a-whimsical-trip-to-the-circus/article_d9ed2748-efd1-11e7-961e-bfe3a2647d9c.html

[jo]

www.hillcountrynews.com/stories/the-show-goes-on-a-review-of-the-greatest-showman,76567


The link does not work, but here are excerpts from the review for TV Guide by Paul Hall --

Let’s be real for a minute though — none of this matters in a musical. My desire for more of the minor characters, and maybe even a touch more on the running time, means nothing if the music doesn’t work. Here, the music works and will leave you singing the songs like “This Is Me” and “The Greatest Show,” among others, long after the final credits roll. I sang them incessantly around my family for days after my viewing of the film despite my musical abilities being limited at best.

I came away from The Greatest Showman filled with hope, joy and delight. And that is enough for me to truly enjoy this toe-tapping good time. I may not be an expert singer, but I do know the show must go on, and this show definitely does long after the lights come on.



Paul’s Grade: B

The Greatest Showman

[jo]

This is one of the positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes --

www.filminquiry.com/the-greatest-showman-2017-review/

Written by Alex Arabian/Published on January 3, 2018 --


It is a long review but one can feel that this reviewer took pains to fully undertand the movie's vision and actual execution!

Relatively unknown visual effects artist Michael Gracey makes an applaudable directorial debut with The Greatest Showman, a fictional musical loosely based on the life of P.T. Barnum, founder of the Barnum and Bailey Circus.

Even though the rookie, who had only done commercials prior to this film, became a bit overwhelmed by the scope of the $84 million budget, prompting 20th Century Fox to hire Hugh Jackman’s frequent collaborator and friend James Mangold to oversee re-shoots and post-production due to concerns of inexperience, the end result of The Greatest Showman turned out fairly decent. Mangold, familiar with directing musical arrangements with Walk the Line, would end up receiving an executive producer credit.



Jenny Bicks (known primarily for her work on the television show Sex and the City), and Oscar winner Bill Condon (Gods And Monsters) craft a screenplay that, though it is a bit spasmodic, succeeds largely due to its dazzling musical numbers. Both a celebration of the inception of show business and a rags-to-riches story, The Greatest Showman carries with it universal themes that will relate to most audiences.

Hugh Jackman as P.T. Barnum, Michelle Williams as his wife, Charity, Zac Efron, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson as famed Opera singer Jenny Lind, and Keala Settle as Lettie Lutz The Bearded Woman all give exceptional performances, helping to bring Condon, Bicks, and Gracey’s vision alive. This was a passion project for Jackman, who, as a triple threat, excels in every aspect of his performance, pouring his heart and soul into the picture. Condon is no stranger to musicals, having scripted Chicago, Dreamgirls (which he also directed), and helmed Beauty and the Beast, and it certainly shows.



A Fictional Rendering Of The Greatest Show On Earth

The Greatest Showman is a fantasy. With lavish set pieces, giant spectacle, and jaw-dropping imagery in every frame, it establishes that fact visually, first. This version of P.T. Barnum is depicted as slightly more poor, growing up in order to emphasize the motif of the American Dream more prominently, which the real life Barnum epitomized.
Condon and Bicks add drama, social commentary about classism, racism, and prejudice, as well as themes of love, pursuance of happiness and passion over financial success, and infidelity; it’s remarkable that they manage to hit most of these themes and motifs on the head in a PG-rated film.


Once one wraps their mind around the fact that The Greatest Showman is primarily fiction, it allows them to simply enjoy the world that Gracey, Mangold, cinematographer Seamus McGarvey (Nocturnal Animals, Anna Karenina), production designer Nathan Crowley (The Dark Knight, Interstellar), set decorator Debra Schutt (Noah, Spider-Man), art director Laura Ballinger (Brokeback Mountain, The Fighter), and costume designer Ellen Mirojnick (Behind the Candelabra, First They Killed My Father) inexhaustibly create.

The film is truly a treat for the eyes. It isn’t necessary to go into every minute detail about what is fact and what is fiction in The Greatest Showman, but quite a few dates were moved around and characters added for romance and conflict.



P.T. Barnum The Showman

Was P.T. Barnum the proponent of diversity and voice for the disenfranchised and outcasts of society that Condon and Bicks portray him as in The Greatest Showman? For the most part, yes, although, back in the 1830s, he was rather exploitative with his “freak shows,” and reportedly got his start showcasing an elderly black female slave he purchased, advertising her as the oldest woman in the world at a far-exaggerated “161 years old” and one of George Washington’s nurses. However, in the film and in reality, P.T. Barnum always paid his “acts,” and provided them with a sense of community, bringing them out of the shadows and into a place where society, at that time in America, would accept them for who they were.

Indeed, Barnum, like in the film, was desperate and determined to find people and acts that would shock mainstream society, hoping to rattle them into accepting all types of human beings. Barnum was in fact a pro-Unionist, something that would lead to his museum being burned down due to Confederate opposition, as opposed to the persistent protests of the “freaks” that turned violent, one of the things leading to the fire in the film. In both The Greatest Showman and in real life, P.T. Barnum was an idealist, a dreamer, an outside thinking entrepreneur, and, coming from a humble background, a man desperate to prove himself in the eyes of society.



Jackman plays Barnum with great eagerness, at times a necessary blind desire for fame at all costs, sensitivity, soul, and ultimately humility. He carries the entire film on his broad shoulders. The range of Jackman is quite remarkable and virtually unparalleled in the film industry; how he can go from portraying a bad-mouthed, bestial superhero in Logan directly to a spritely performer singing show tunes and dancing with ease in The Greatest Showman is a marvel, pun intended. In fact, Jackman said playing the role of P.T. Barnum was more physically challenging than playing the role of Logan.


Paralleling Romances And Toe-Tapping Musical Arrangements

Zendaya as the black trapeze performer Anne Wheeler and Efron as the high society, privileged white playwright Phillip Carlyle are fictional characters, singularly created to add a level of romance as well as commentary about classism and racism during a time in America when its values were incredibly backwards and downright morally repugnant.

Condon and Bicks use this setting to highlight the ludicrousness of the frowning upon of falling in love both beneath one’s class level in society and interracial relationships. Carlyle ultimately estranged himself from his wealthy parents, sacrificing a hefty inheritance for a life of love with Wheeler and a family at the Barnum Circus. Wheeler and Carlyle’s relationship prompts the initial brawl that leads to the fire on top of the protests.

Efron returns to his High School Musical roots in The Greatest Showman, and he hasn’t lost a step, vocally. Zendaya and Efron have outstanding onscreen chemistry and the two Disney alumni make for arguable the most impressively orchestrated and touching duet in the film with “Rewrite The Stars.” Zendaya gives the finest performance of her young acting career. Efron as Carlyle does an apt job of filling in for Jackman’s Barnum’s shoes while he’s away on tour with the great Jenny Lind, with whom he’s portrayed as being infatuated with in the film.



Barnum and Charity’s story, from childhood crushes to married adult lovers, is a bit rushed and brushed over. The story doesn’t quite focus as much on the young P.T. Barnum and his father’s hardships as Charity’s family servants, abused and financially struggling, as it can to emphasize how far Barnum came when he eventually built his empire. His personal life with his family is left out of a lot of the script, save for his daughter’s ballet subplot, and there are a few off-putting time jumps.



However, Williams and Jackman provide a wonderful foundation and main theme for the film with the memorable and inspirational tune, “A Million Dreams.” Williams impresses in her own solo performance with “Tightrope,” a song she sings as she longs for Barnum while he’s away with Lind.

The story focuses quite a bit on a fictitious subplot of Barnum and Lind, with Condon and Bicks adding a scandal while they are on tour, causing Charity to leave Barnum. Though this adds conflict in an otherwise mostly idyllic story and prompts Barnum to refocus his values on his circus and family, it portrays Lind in an unflattering light by making her look like she was only on the American singing tour because of her love for Barnum.

In real life, their relationship was strictly professional, and Charity and Barnum never had a marital separation. However, Ferguson shines as Lind, and with The Voice Season 3 finalist Loren Allred providing her magnificent vocals, gives the most mesmerizing solo in The Greatest Showman with “Never Enough.”

The Greatest Showman: A Thoroughly Entertaining, Albeit Slightly Over-Ambitious Musical

The musical numbers by John Debney, Benj Pasek, Justin Paul, and Joseph Trapanese are poppy, considerably simple, and extremely digitally enhanced, though they are undoubtedly catchy and will likely appeal to the younger generations. The crew, especially Gracey, McGarvey, Crowely, and Mirojnick, do an amazing job of transporting the viewer back to 19th century America. Though Condon and Bicks‘ story tries to cover a little too much ground, glossing over subplots and cramming several themes into its short, 105-minute runtime, a few of which it doesn’t focus enough on, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.



Jackman gives one of the finest performances of his career, but without the help of his excellent supporting cast, The Greatest Showman, like P.T. Barnum’s Circus without its acts, would be nothing. The film is a fine example of importance and payoff of collaboration and inclusion in Hollywood. In finding the perfect lead in Jackman as Barnum, providing moving and invigorating musical numbers executed by a stellar secondary cast, impressive visuals, and covering timely topics, The Greatest Showman overcomes its narrative shortcomings.


Are you a fan of musicals? Did you ever go to the Barnum and Bailey Circus before it closed earlier this year? What was your favorite song in The Greatest Showman?

The Greatest Showman opened on December 20, 2017 in the U.S. For all international release dates, see here.

[jo]

The range of Jackman is quite remarkable and virtually unparalleled in the film industry; how he can go from portraying a bad-mouthed, bestial superhero in Logan directly to a spritely performer singing show tunes and dancing with ease in The Greatest Showman is a marvel, pun intended.

And to do both exceptional performances in one season is indeed truly remarkable!

Hugh is too good to be true -- looks and charisma, talent and versatility ( film and stage, across genres), and a reputation for being a true professional!

Maybe I am biased, but sometimes I think it is pure jealousy *green emoji*


Jo

[jo]

It's alright to admire both

[jo]

Another insightful review of THE GREATEST SHOWMAN's strengths and reason for its success, from the creative viewpoint and cultural significance.

www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-01/16/c_136897848.htm


Btw, this looks like publicity intended for the China market --

Xinhua News Agency (English pronunciation: /ˌʃɪnˈhwɑː/[1]) or New China News Agency is the official press agency of the People's Republic of China. Xinhua is the biggest and most influential media organization in China, as well as the largest news agency in the world in terms of correspondents worldwide[2].

[jo]

From the UK Telegraph --


www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/critics-hated-greatest-showman-classic-making/

Critics hated The Greatest Showman – but is it a classic in the making?


Hugh Jackman (centre right) plays PT Barnum


Tristram Fane Saunders
17 January 2018 • 7:07pm

Roll up, roll up, for the story of a glitzy spectacle that was sneered at by critics, but caught the imagination of the public. No, not PT Barnum's circus freakshow, but the Hollywood retelling of Barnum's life, The Greatest Showman.

Starring Hugh Jackman as the 19th century impresario, this new musical from first-time director Michael Gracey has not impressed the critics. It has been variously described as "miserable" (The Telegraph), "middle of the road" (The Guardian) and "godawful" (Canada's Globe and Mail, in a merciless zero-star review).

Even before its release, there were dark omens. It went through seven years of production hell, and last month it emerged that Logan director James Mangold was brought in for last-minute reshoots, after an early cut of the film performed badly with test audiences. Most disconcerting of all were all the articles presenting Barnum as the spiritual predecessor of Donald Trump (who took the comparison as a compliment, telling NBC: "We need PT Barnum, a little bit").


And yet, despite critical rasberries and worrying early warning signs, the film has all the makings of an enduring hit. After a slow start at the box office, it has now become the third highest-grossing original live-action musical ever made, after 2007's Enchanted and last year's La La Land.

A strong opening weekend can usually be chalked up to good marketing, but when a film manages to hold its place in the box office chart for several weeks, that suggests it has struck a chord with audiences. In the UK, three weeks on from its Boxing Day release, The Greatest Showman is still at number four (and earned £425,000 more in the last week than Star Wars: The Last Jedi).

As is so often the case, it seems the reviewers and the public don't see eye to eye. The Greatest Showman holds a 55 per cent "rotten" rating from professional critics on reviews amalgamator Rotten Tomatoes, where its audience approval rating sits at a much healthier 90 per cent. So why the difference in opinion?



One answer comes from a quick bit of repartee in the film itself. A condescending newspaper critic, played by Paul Sparks, asks Barnum: "Does it bother you that everything you're selling is fake?" Bennett asks. The showman shoots back: "Do these smiles seem fake?"

This is, in essence, the same conversation critics have been having with audiences. Many reviewers have taken issue with the film's based-on-a-true-story claims, arguing that it presents a version of Barnum's life in which "historic facts are all but eliminated" (the New York Observer).

The film paints a picture of Barnum's American Museum in which his living exhibits are celebrated, rather than exploited. Its stand-out song, This is Me, is a self-affirmation anthem sung by a choir of misfits and outcasts, which trumpets a similar message to Lady Gaga's Born This Way.


This is, to borrow one of Barnum's favourite words, humbug. The real PT Barnum was a complex and contradictory character, far from Jackman's airbrushed version. He campaigned for African-Americans to be given the vote, but began his career in showbusiness by buying a blind, black slave named Joice Heath and showing her off as a "living skeleton" whom he claimed was 161 years old. When Heath died, Barnum sold tickets to her autopsy. He was an animal rights advocate, but allowed his animal trainers to shove red-hot pokers down elephants' trunks. (Elephants never forget, and neither do elephant-lovers: PETA has called on audiences to boycott the film.)



And yet, despite his flaws, this is the man at the centre of a musical keen to present itself as "scintillatingly flashy — and woke!" (Variety). The film does all it can to smooth over his less savoury decisions. In the movie, "Tom Thumb" (a man with dwarfism) joins Barnum's troupe in his twenties. In real life, he was just four years old.

For some critics, the very idea of presenting a money-grubbing slave owner who encouraged the public to gawp at disabled children as a right-on, progressive hero is either "sinister" (Vox), or "utterly bibbly bibbly quack-quack insane" (The Telegraph).


But should the truth get in the way of a good story? Like Baz Lurhmann's Moulin Rouge, The Greatest Showman pays lip service to history, but is really more concerned with creating a dazzling, fantastical world of its own.
As a point of comparison, the much-lauded musical Hamilton also skirts around the unpleasant side of historical figures, in order to weave an uplifting new myth of national identity. Both musicals signal their departure from dry historical fact with a winkingly anachronistic soundtrack: where Hamilton has hip-hop, The Greatest Showman uses autotune-ish pop.
Those songs the real secret of the film's success, and it's almost all songs; it squeezes 11 into its 105-minute running time. The title track alone has racked up more than 10 million views on YouTube. Written by La La Land's Oscar-winning duo Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, the soundtrack has been at number one on the US Billboard 200 album chart for two consecutive weeks. The last live-action musical to manage that feat was Dreamgirls, back in 2008. Earlier this month, This is Me won a Golden Globe (an award voted for by the press).


It's pop – proper contemporary pop, far from the usual idiom of musical theatre. On Amazon, 98 per cent of buyers' reviews for the soundtrack album give it a solid five stars (one reviewer comments that they've already been to see the film four times).

Last weekend, a singalong version of the film opened in around 300 US cinemas (with the lyrics appearing onscreen). Fans even turned up in drawn-on beards, in tribute to the film's bearded lady, dancing in the cinema aisles as they screamed along to every word. This hints at the reason for the film's extraordinary box office legs: its hard-core fans have been returning to see it again and again.


Looking at this ecstatic reception, it seems that by judging the film for its colour-by-numbers script, dubious treatment of history or its thinly sketched character development, the reviewers have missed the point. The Greatest Showman is not trying to be a historical biopic; it is trying to be a Katy Perry concert. It's very possible that if newspapers had sent their pop critics to cover the film, rather than their film buffs, the reviews would have been very different.

As it stands, the film's box office success is yet another piece of evidence that (despite studios' fears) bad reviews can't keep audiences away. Singalong film musicals are far rarer than convincing dramas, and – as Frozen has proved – once a film becomes a genuine crossover pop success, it can keep drawing fans to the cinema almost indefinitely.

The Greatest Showman won't win any Oscars for its screenplay or direction, but years to come it may turn out to be a golden goose for its producers. As Barnum himself once quipped, "Every crowd has a silver lining."

The article, while recognizing the sensual appeal of the music, misses other factors that have been applauded by audiences. Maybe if he had read a few weeks's social media messages, he would have gotten a true flavor of the overall appeal of the movie. As his review stands, it sounds like a shallow appreciation of the worth of THE GREATEST SHOWMAN.

Often cited in social media are also the messages contained in the movie that relate to people in personal life. The theme of This Is Me resonates with those who long for love and acceptance because they think society has not accepted their supposed flaws.

The music's appeal lie not just in the melodies ( with contemporary appeal, which is actually a good creative technique because it made this movie musical speak directly to its audiences) but if you dig deep, the lyrics are the real secret of the musical score. What the critics missed is : what they call as shallow script is belied by what you can draw from the lyrics of the songs -- the songs not only advance the story but also gives the audiences a feel of the emotionality and the anguish or joy that each character undergoes as the song tells more of the story.

For example, if the tale of Philip and Anne were simply expressed in dialog -- and not Rewrite the Stars -- it could have been an Oscar-worthy scene ( as much as West Side Story's Tony and Maria's anguish that their relationship has not been accepted socially and may have no future)! Or that song of pain and longing sung by Charity in Tightrope - had Michelle played that scene without the notes - with all her vaunted ability to portray a character in anguish and regret - it could have also gotten Oscar notice for the multi-nominated actress!

A Million Dreams sped up the story of how a young boy's difficult experiences, but buoyed by dreams of a better future with someone he deeply cared for, influenced how he grew up. He would grow up to be a strong person but with an ambitious drive which also became a flaw when he lets it consume him in his rise to the top. Yet, because the audience is seduced by the beauty of that particular melody, people could be misled that it was not the particular message of that song which drove this semi-fictionalized Barnum into his drive towards material success!

From Now On is the clear example of when a film story reaches its denouement towards the end -- the so-called eleven o'clock number if this  were  a stage musical. Barnum realizes that what he has achieved is for nothing unless he fully appreciated what brought on his success and the people that helped him along the way...and what he has to do from now on! Come Alive is actually a midway climactic scene -- when he fully recognized  the secret to entrepreneurial success -- giving the public what they want!  I wonder how many noticed that the idea clicked in his mind when his daughters unwittingly gave him the idea on what the public may want (" something alive, something sensational")... The Greatest Show was both prologue and epilogue -- a technique we have seen in non-musical movies : scenes that entice the audience to buy into the story and the final moments that tell the audience if the original premise was fully realized.

It is a beautiful movie musical -- it tells the story with both music and words. The plot and character development are embodied in the seamless fusion of musicalized plotlines and normal dialog, all lavished with very appealing production numbers. The big musical numbers are not just there for spectacle -- they are there to carry the plot along ( even the trapeze background for Rewrite the Stars gives us a hint of the danger of the relationship of two people coming from different segments of society -- that it could be fraught with risk).  It is quite obvious that the songs were not composed in a vacumn. They were written following a cinematic vision initially articulated by the film helmer!

Maybe if the critics had taken the time to view it a second time ( as Variety's Owen Gleiberman did), they could have been led to a much better appreciation of this movie. Sometimes musicals suffer from the wrong notion that the music is just there for pleasurable moments in the whole movie. What is not realized is that in well-made musicals, the music is an important part of the storytelling!


Jo

[jo]

Slightly revisionist thinking for Scott Mendelson of Forbes.com -- now he says THE GREATEST SHOWMAN is a movie for adults/about adults that the kids also enjoy


www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2018/01/19/the-simple-reason-hugh-jackmans-greatest-showman-is-a-leggy-hit/#720044924797

Jan 19, 2018 @ 07:00 AM 138

The Simple Reason Hugh Jackman's 'Greatest Showman' Is A Leggy Hit

Scott Mendelson , Contributor


The Greatest Showman crossed $100 million domestic and $200m worldwide on Tuesday. While that doesn’t quite make it a hit quite yet (the 20th Century Fox release cost $84m to produce), it’s on its way to becoming something of a perennial favorite. The film had the best full Fri-Sun to Fri-Sun hold ever for a wide release in its second weekend on a film opening on more than 2,000 screens, and it’s already the leggiest 3,000+ release of all time. By today, it will have a stunning 11.6x weekend-to-domestic total multiplier, making it the 27th-leggiest wide release among the top 200 debuts of every given month. And that list is only going to get smaller by Sunday.


The Hugh Jackman/Zac Efron/Michelle Williams/Rebecca Ferguson/Zendaya live-action musical is clearly hitting a chord with audiences. Sure, the film didn’t really “come alive” until the last day (Christmas Day) of its Wed-Mon opening weekend, but since then it’s been holding like an all-time champ. Credit the film’s “PG, but really G” content, the obscenely catchy songs (the soundtrack has been selling like hotcakes), the lean-and-mean razzle dazzle nature of the enterprise (the 105-minute feature is essentially just one jazzy musical number after another) and the unapologetic escapism at play. Warts and all (the film isn’t exactly a non-fictional account of PT Barnum’s early days), the picture is pure cinematic escapism during a time of relative anxiety and duress.


Star Wars: The Last Jedi may have tapped into the zeitgeist almost too well, but Greatest Showman is a complete escape. That also partially explains why Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle has played so well, as it too is an entertaining and apolitical and kid-friendly action comedy san any grim reminders of the grim real world. Jumanji is essentially a kid flick that adults can enjoy, while Greatest Showman is a movie for adults/about adults that kids can enjoy. By the way, if you’re someone who wanted a more true-to-life PT Barnum biopic, you should know that there aren’t a ton of successful biopics which exist to essentially shine a harsh non-fictional light on beloved famous people.


I loved John Goodman’s The Babe when I was 12, but nearly every critic tore the film asunder 26 years ago, accusing of it artistic war crimes for daring to present the legendary baseball player in a realistic light. Folks all over the Internet are currently losing their minds because a fictional hero (Luke Skywalker) was presenting as having a moment of Dark Side-y temptation in a story that’s very much about the whole “never meet your heroes” thing. The Greatest Showman may be a sanitized version of Barnum’s life. It be a sanitized version of itself (it plays like a 2.25-hour movie cut to fit into a two-hours-with commercials TV slot), but it’s clearly connecting.


For all the talk about how the live-action musical is a risky genre, when audiences get live-action musical offerings in wide release, those films often become relative hits. Just in the last 11 years (2006-2017), we’ve had Paramount/Viacom Inc.’s Dreamgirls ($155m worldwide), New Line Cinema’s Hairspray ($202m), Paramount’s Sweeney Todd ($152m), Universal’s Mamma Mia! ($609m), Universal’s Les Misérables ($441m), Sony’s Annie ($133m), Walt Disney’s Into the Woods ($213m) and Disney’s Beauty and the Beast ($1.263 billion). In the realm of original (or not based on a stage show), we’ve had Disney’s Enchanted ($340m), Disney’s High School Musical 3 ($252m), Sony’s Burlesque ($89m), Disney’s The Muppets ($155m), Lionsgate’s La La Land ($446m) and now Fox’s Greatest Showman.


There are plenty of barely-released indies (Stage Fright, The Last Five Years, Sing Street, Repo: The Genetic Opera, etc.) and biggies that didn’t quite click (Across the Universe, Rock of Ages, Muppets Most Wanted, Jersey Boys, etc.). But the live-action musical, especially ones with an all-audience appeal (sorry Nine) are as safe a bet as any other major genre averaging more than one hit a year over the last decade. And when a musical becomes a hit, it becomes a generational favorite and its soundtrack becomes a hot seller right alongside the movie. There are plenty of reasons why The Greatest Showman is a hit. But the simplest one may be that it’s an entertaining live-action musical.

Why does he have to say that it is pure escapism, as he cannot pin down the exact appeal of the movie *rolleyes*



Someone just tweeted this --

[jo]

From Scott Mendelson --

And when a musical becomes a hit, it becomes a generational favorite and its soundtrack becomes a hot seller right alongside the movie.

It looks like the millennials will be claiming it for THE GREATEST SHOWMAN!

For a while, maybe Broadway's HAMILTON might have been it -- but it is too narrowly-confined to that specific market. Can the same be also be said for DEAR EVAN HANSEN?

Perhaps the final arbiter is -- " A great movie for me isn't measured by how many awards it wins, but by how big of an impact it has. How much it inspires & means to the audience. " And if I may add -- it has to speak to them directly and in the language of their generation!

Jo

[jo]

Scott Mendelson has changed the title of his article --

Hugh Jackman's 'Greatest Showman' Proves Musicals Are A Safe Box Office Bet

[jo]

Borrowing from the VARIETY article featuring Hugh Jackman as its cover story --

Moreover, “The Greatest Showman” is unabashedly nostalgic. Whereas “La La Land” was grounded in a darker realism, this film is bright and ebullient, infused with a let’s-put-on-a-show spirit that’s been largely missing from cinema since the days of Judy Garland and Gene Kelly.

“It’s a risky proposition,” admits Stacey Snider, chairman and CEO of 20th Century Fox. “But I do believe it’s the antidote to these tough times. It was our goal to anticipate the zeitgeist and speak to the turbulence of our era by offering something that was joyful and optimistic at the holidays.”

Is that escapism... or simply looking at the silver lining in dark times?

Jo

[jo]

I don't know where to post this -- would " Is THE GREATEST SHOWMAN Sweeping the Nation?" be a good new title


But Deadline.com finally noticed how the movie is winning hearts everywhere, except around West LA where he says Oscar voters cluster around -- but who cares at this point -- if it is now known as the movie that America fell in love with!

deadline.com/2018/01/greatest-showman-sings-past-oscar-favorites-everywhere-but-here-1202263223/

The Greatest Showman’ Sings Past Oscar Favorites, Everywhere But Here

by Michael Cieply

January 19, 2018 1:12pm




On the way to some Thursday appointments, I thought I’d catch up with The Greatest Showman at the Landmark Theaters here; but it was not to be found at the Westside’s showcase cinema. Never mind that Hugh Jackman’s P.T. Barnum musical, released by Fox on December 20, was No. 3 at the Wednesday box office, going strong after just having crossed the $100 million mark in domestic ticket sales. That put it comfortably ahead of the combined take for any three of the eight Oscar contenders at the Landmark. Darkest Hour, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, and Fox’s own The Post, for instance, had about $98.7 million in sales among them. But The Greatest Showman already had breached $101.3 million.


It is a phenomenal showing for a movie that opened with a thud — first-weekend ticket sales were just $8.8 million — and still doesn’t excite the film-savvy Westside. Folks here, especially Oscar voters, aren’t the sort to attend movie sing-alongs. But those have worked just fine in the heartland, since Fox launched them a week ago in 300 theaters. Hokey, but effective. The film has a family-friendly PG rating; the soundtrack album hit No. 1; its lead song, “This Is Me,” is a hit; and, all things considered, The Greatest Showman stands a fair chance of beating out Steven Spielberg’s high-profile The Post to become the fourth-best grossing film released by 20th Century Fox in 2017, behind Logan, The Boss Baby and War for the Planet of the Apes.


Much will depend on how The Post — which trades heavily on feminine pride in the strength of the former Washington Post owner Katharine Graham and on anti-Trump backing for the mainstream media — fares in the still-churning cultural cross-currents. After a month in theaters, and a week in wide release, the movie has taken in about $31.3 million at the domestic box office. But to keep going, The Post will have to grab an armload of Oscar nominations on Tuesday morning, while avoiding any heartland backlash to its progressive leanings. With luck, the movie could match Fox’s prior Oscar contender from last year, Hidden Figures, which took in about $169.6 million after an unusually long 45-week release. But Hidden Figures had three black leading ladies — Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monae, and Taraji P. Henson — to help draw African-American viewers, while The Post is, well, so white. Hidden Figures was inclusive, while The Post is a bit divisive.

The Greatest Showman, meanwhile, has music, a friendly rating and every reason to expect ticket sales matching the $129.3 million taken in by the year’s other surprise hit, Wonder, from Lionsgate.


So even as overall movie attendance drops, the heartland clearly has a pulse — if only those savvy Westside film folks can still find it.

[jo]

And this Little Showman sings A Million Dreams from the movie that a TV station has labelled as one "that is sweeping the nation" --

www.local10.com/entertainment/coral-springs-boy-goes-viral-after-singing-a-million-dreams-

[jo]

It looks like the movie press ( including film blogger sites) are now jumping into the bandwagon -- THE GREATEST SHOWMAN is a success! First, it was Forbes, then Deadline, and now DenofGeek ( who admitted that their own critic dissed the movie) -- all writing about this success story!

www.denofgeek.com/us/movies/the-greatest-showman/270375/the-greatest-showman-what-a-sleeper-box-office-run-means

The Greatest Showman: What a Sleeper Box Office Run Means

The Greatest Showman has stealthily become a sleeper hit and a box office Cinderella story. We consider why and what it means for musicals.

David Crow
Jan 19, 2018



Right now many in Hollywood are still marveling at the runaway success of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. As a standalone semi-sequel / semi-reboot, this old-fashioned adventure yarn exceeded all expectations and has dominated the U.S. box office for a month, toppling even Star Wars: The Last Jedi for three straight weeks. But just staring at Dwayne Johnson’s million-dollar smile might cause some to miss another big boffo story: Hugh Jackman’s The Greatest Showman is a stealthy box office hit.

Currently sitting at a global intake of more than $200 million, The Greatest Showman’s even showier fortunes are all the more impressive when so many wrote the picture off as a box office failure upon its opening weekend. Like Jumanji, this slickly produced musical was released on Dec. 20 and in the shadow of Star Wars’ wide reach. But unlike Jumanji, the movie’s appeal to audiences was less than clear. Grossing a meager $8.8 million while debuting in fourth place, the $84 million-budgeted toe-tapper was dismissed as a dud for 20th Century Fox that failed to get anyone to sing-along, especially critics who were less than warmhearted about the movie—including in our own review.

Indeed, the movie’s saccharine and overly sentimental affectation might seem unearned to some—especially those who compared it to last year’s lauded La La Land. However, a funny thing happened. Moviegoers who are fond of musicals ignored the critics, a few at a time, and responded to The Greatest Showman with almost as much enthusiasm as La La Land. For like that picture, here is another all-original song-and-dance picture that week after week, and weekend after weekend, played exceedingly well with audiences who have a song in their heart.

So while Jumanji wowed with its staying power as a family entertainment, Showman embarked on its only leggy run across the boards that slowly transformed it over the holiday season and throughout January from box office disappointment to something that is oft-thought extinct: it became a sleeper hit. In its second weekend—rotating around New Year’s Eve—it rocked in 2018 by actually increasing its three-day tally by 76 percent, earning $15.5 million. Granted, it also added 310 screens as it opened wider, and also didn’t suffer through the plunge of its first Sunday falling on Dec. 24 (not a big moviegoing day for the Christmas Eve faithful). But throughout January, it has stayed consistently in the top 5 of each weekend, dropping less than 15 percent from week to week. And this past weekend, despite the film having lost over 800 screens from the height of its release, The Greatest Showman grew its audience by 17.5 percent, and finished in the top three of the holiday weekend.



Right now many in Hollywood are still marveling at the runaway success of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. As a standalone semi-sequel / semi-reboot, this old-fashioned adventure yarn exceeded all expectations and has dominated the U.S. box office for a month, toppling even Star Wars: The Last Jedi for three straight weeks. But just staring at Dwayne Johnson’s million-dollar smile might cause some to miss another big boffo story: Hugh Jackman’s The Greatest Showman is a stealthy box office hit.

Currently sitting at a global intake of more than $200 million, The Greatest Showman’s even showier fortunes are all the more impressive when so many wrote the picture off as a box office failure upon its opening weekend. Like Jumanji, this slickly produced musical was released on Dec. 20 and in the shadow of Star Wars’ wide reach. But unlike Jumanji, the movie’s appeal to audiences was less than clear. Grossing a meager $8.8 million while debuting in fourth place, the $84 million-budgeted toe-tapper was dismissed as a dud for 20th Century Fox that failed to get anyone to sing-along, especially critics who were less than warmhearted about the movie—including in our own review.

Indeed, the movie’s saccharine and overly sentimental affectation might seem unearned to some—especially those who compared it to last year’s lauded La La Land. However, a funny thing happened. Moviegoers who are fond of musicals ignored the critics, a few at a time, and responded to The Greatest Showman with almost as much enthusiasm as La La Land. For like that picture, here is another all-original song-and-dance picture that week after week, and weekend after weekend, played exceedingly well with audiences who have a song in their heart.

So while Jumanji wowed with its staying power as a family entertainment, Showman embarked on its only leggy run across the boards that slowly transformed it over the holiday season and throughout January from box office disappointment to something that is oft-thought extinct: it became a sleeper hit. In its second weekend—rotating around New Year’s Eve—it rocked in 2018 by actually increasing its three-day tally by 76 percent, earning $15.5 million. Granted, it also added 310 screens as it opened wider, and also didn’t suffer through the plunge of its first Sunday falling on Dec. 24 (not a big moviegoing day for the Christmas Eve faithful). But throughout January, it has stayed consistently in the top 5 of each weekend, dropping less than 15 percent from week to week. And this past weekend, despite the film having lost over 800 screens from the height of its release, The Greatest Showman grew its audience by 17.5 percent, and finished in the top three of the holiday weekend.


It has gone on to earn over $100 million in the U.S. and shows little indication of slowing down before the February franchise contenders (Fifty Shades Freed and Black Panther) come a-knocking. In the process, the success of Showman suggests a series of lessons worth learning.

First is the notion that critics—or more specifically Rotten Tomatoes—can sink a movie remains overstated. While musicals are still a relatively fragile genre in which reviews matter, if audiences like a picture, word of mouth can overcome any Tomato Meter score, even in a crowded box office season with two major blockbusters earning all the attention. Secondly, audiences like what they like. As our own Kayti Burt suggested, for many a musical fan, The Greatest Showman is indeed about the greatest show on earth, and is purely a joy for those moviegoers to consume. For better or worse, this even includes the current White House, as President Donald Trump screened Showman for lawmakers at Camp David to widespread approval (presumably the president sees something of himself in P.T. “there’s a sucker born every minute” Barnum).

It also suggests that rather than building four-quadrant films that must appeal to everyone, constructing films for specific audiences that play well remains a vital way to have a hit that isn’t defined by its opening weekend... It ever need to be first for a single weekend! Lastly though, it once again reconfirms the musical is a vital genre in the 21st century.

Why Superhero Fans Should See The Greatest Showman
How Disney Saved Musicals for a New Generation
The Top 10 Classic Movie Musicals

After the musicals mostly went the way of the Western in the 1970s and ‘80s—as Baby Boomers rejected the most popular entertainment of their parents’ generation—a new generation of Millennials was raised on Broadway-quality animated musicals during the Disney Renaissance. This audience has now grown up into a larger demographic who have supported the artifice of belting showtunes over the years, especially the higher quality ones like Moulin Rouge! and Chicago. But now with the success of La La Land (which earned $151 million domestic and nearly $450 million worldwide) and The Greatest Showman, there is yet more clear evidence that an original movie musical with songs and dances written uniquely for it can be a hit. They don’t have to be based on a pre-existing musical intellectual property (Chicago, Rent, Les Misérables), nor do they need pre-existing popular music like Moulin Rouge! had.


And in the advent of The Greatest Showman, they don’t even need to be well received by critics or become awards darlings, as La La Land was a year ago. They merely need to be good, or perceived as such by the sizable audience who has no problem with those who've gotta dance. Because there is an audience out there hungry for more from this genre, and The Greatest Showman’s most impressive feat was revealing that fact in grand fashion.

[jo]

Jan 19, 2018 20:15:10 GMT -5 jo said:

It looks like the movie press ( including film blogger sites) are now jumping into the bandwagon -- THE GREATEST SHOWMAN is a success! First, it was Forbes, then Deadline, and now DenofGeek ( who admitted that their own critic dissed the movie) -- all writing about this success story!

www.denofgeek.com/us/movies/the-greatest-showman/270375/the-greatest-showman-what-a-sleeper-box-office-run-means

>
>
>
>

After the musicals mostly went the way of the Western in the 1970s and ‘80s—as Baby Boomers rejected the most popular entertainment of their parents’ generation—a new generation of Millennials was raised on Broadway-quality animated musicals during the Disney Renaissance. This audience has now grown up into a larger demographic who have supported the artifice of belting showtunes over the years, especially the higher quality ones like Moulin Rouge! and Chicago. But now with the success of La La Land (which earned $151 million domestic and nearly $450 million worldwide) and The Greatest Showman, there is yet more clear evidence that an original movie musical with songs and dances written uniquely for it can be a hit. They don’t have to be based on a pre-existing musical intellectual property (Chicago, Rent, Les Misérables), nor do they need pre-existing popular music like Moulin Rouge! had.


And in the advent of The Greatest Showman, they don’t even need to be well received by critics or become awards darlings, as La La Land was a year ago. They merely need to be good, or perceived as such by the sizable audience who has no problem with those who've gotta dance. Because there is an audience out there hungry for more from this genre, and The Greatest Showman’s most impressive feat was revealing that fact in grand fashion.

Interesting rejoinder from a reader --

Like · Reply · 8h · Edited


Kevin Horner

This geek hasn't a clue! Only a moron would try to compare "Greatest Showman" to "La La Land." "La La Land" is NOT a true musical film with only 4 songs and 85% instrumental music. On the other hand, "Greatest Showman" is a true musical featuring all songs, 11 wonderful songs. Pasek & Paul, who wrote the few songs for "La La Land" and all the songs for "Greatest Showman" continue to prove that they're the hottest songwriters in Hollywood. The soundtrack for "Greatest Showman" is #1 on the Billboard charts as the best-selling album and #1 on the iTune charts.

On the other hand, the best the soundtrack for "La La Land" could do is top 10 on the Billboard charts. That's because its soundtrack is mostly instrumental jazz music. Most films, as opposed to musical films, consist largely of instrumental music. "La La Land" is like most non-musical films with largely instrumental music. It's not a true musical film. The film "La La Land" also lacks the show-stopping songs, sophisticated choreography, and spectacle of "Greatest Showman", which is a true musical film. Really, there's no comparison between the 2 films, because "La La Land" is NOT a true musical film. These is a major example of the ignorance that we've seen from many film critics.

Most film critics aren't well-educated in music to start with and aren't fully qualified to critique musical films. This is evident in the fact that most film critics can't even accurately identify the genre of music featured in "Greatest Showman." No, it's not all pop music, and it's not all "anthems." Many of the show-stopping tunes in "Showman" are a hybrid cross of show tunes and pop music, and each is very different. Some like "This is Me" and "For Now On" are akin to gospel songs, while songs like "Rewrite the Stars" and "Never Enough" are purely pop songs. The music of Pasek & Paul is at the heart of the film "The Greatest Showman", and it's exactly what continues to propel "The Greatest Showman" in the movie theaters.

[jo]

An online media news aggregator gets out of current news to praise THE GREATEST SHOWMAN --

www.ozy.com/presidential-daily-brief

Intriguing


Oscar Buzz or No, Hugh Jackman Flick a Must-See

Need a January pick-me-up? While Dunkirk and Darkest Hour may earn more Oscar nods, I loved The Greatest Showman, a wonderful, feel-good film. Over the holidays, our group of nine, ranging from teens to nearly 80, fell in love with this musical. No, it’s not gritty. No, it didn’t make the hardcore critics swoon. But it did leave us singing and dancing our way out of the cinema with huge smiles. And now the movie’s soundtrack is topping the charts, helping millions of listeners chase away the January blues.

[jo]

This film blogger tried to understand the movie and its motivations before he passed judgment... and came to the most reasonable conclusion

www.chicagonow.com/dry-it-in-the-water/2018/01/film-review-the-greatest-showman/

Film Review: The Greatest Showman

By Brett Baker, today at 1:05 am


There's a moment in The Greatest Showman where P.T. Barnum's daughter tells her father that she's quitting ballet. She's just had her first recital, and the other society girls her age have made it clear that she's not welcome. But rather than admit how the other girls hurt her, and that she feels out of place, she tells her father that ballet's just too hard. When he tells her that he believes in her and that she can do it, she tells him that ballet requires real talent.

It's not fake like his circus.

The daughter didn't intend to cut Hugh Jackman's P.T. Barnum with that statement, but rather just repeated what she'd heard everyone around her saying. But that question-what's real and what's fake-runs throughout the film.

After catching a glimpse of Barnum at the pinnacle of his success, the film flashes back to his childhood and we follow his journey from poor tailor's son to the world's foremost showman. He woos Charity (Michelle Williams), the daughter of a wealthy family for whom Barnum's father tailored, from the time they're about ten years old, until they're adults and she leaves her life of privilege to attach herself to Barnum, who could provide nothing but big plans and the optimism that he knew how to follow through on them.

The film transpires over a number of decades. It's obvious that time passes as Barnum grows from a child, to a newlywed, and then to a father. Once he reaches adulthood it's less clear how much time is passing. Did his rise and fall occur in the span of a couple of years, or a few decades? We don't know. Perhaps the filmmakers didn't find that important, but as someone who's always trying to place events on a timeline, it annoyed me at times. His daughters didn't grow very old, so maybe it all happened in a few years. If so, it's an eventful few years.



However, while the events of the film are important in telling the story, the real substance of the film is the question of what's fake versus what's real, and the role that joy plays in our lives.

As Barnum begins putting together his collection of human oddities who will form the initial backbone of his circus, his goes to visit a dwarf who lives with his mother. He tells the man that he's putting together a show and he needs a star. "You want people to laugh at me," the dwarf said. To which Barnum replies, "They're laughing anyway, kid, so you might as well get paid." The dwarf shuts the door in his face, so Barnum tries a different tack, and appeals to the man's desire for positive attention, which works.

In that moment we see Barnum's ability to instantly read a situation and figure out what someone wants, even if they don't know they want it. In just a few seconds the dwarf went from someone who appeared disinterested in even talking to Barnum, to following him to his circus. And once Barnum figured out what the people wanted, all he had to do was give it to them and then convince them that they wanted it.

One of the characters, the Bearded Woman (Keala Settle), says, "Our own mothers were ashamed of us. They hid us our whole lives." Barnum had the foresight to understand that the general public had an interest in seeing those people who had always been hidden away, and that if he produced a good show the audience would come to see oddities, but eventually move past that and enjoy the entertainment.

In watching the movie we can sort of feel how those first crowds felt. The dwarf is short, and the woman has a beard, and another guy has tons of tattoos, and a different guy is fat. It's easy to get hung up on those things, but as soon as they sing, and dance, and perform, it's just as easy to forget about them and marvel at the show. That's what happened as I watched.


Jackman is perfect for this. He's got the sort of everyman quality that's important for portraying Barnum, yet his singing and dancing seemed impeccable to my amateur eye. He can act, too, which he shows us in the non-musical scenes. Michelle Williams is great as his wife. We believe that she loves him so much that she's willing to turn away from her family, and when Barnum loses site of what's important, she sets him straight by reminding him that she never cared about anything other than living life with the man she fell in love with.

This is the sort of movie that will age very well. It's a big production, with memorable songs, big and small. The scenes where just one or two characters sing are touching, and scenes with a few dozen singing are exhilarating. There's a lot here, and a second or third viewing would reveal more to see, simply because there's so much in the scenes with big songs that we can't possibly take it all in at once.

And although the theater critic, and high society leaders, and the ruffian townies are concerned throughout with what's real and what's fake, by the end we understand that to Barnum the question of real or fake was irrelevant. "Men suffer more from imagining too little, than imagining too much," he says when defending his show.


The film begins with a quote from Barnum: "The noblest art is that of making others happy." If that's true, then this film is very noble indeed.


3.5 stars.

[mamaleh]

Actually, the movie ends with that quote. But other than that, I agree with the blogger.

Ellen

[jo]

This is the sort of movie that will age very well.

It's a big production, with memorable songs, big and small. The scenes where just one or two characters sing are touching, and scenes with a few dozen singing are exhilarating...plus you need to pay particular attention to the lyrics -- they do advance the story! There's a lot here, and a second or third viewing would reveal more to see, simply because there's so much in the scenes with big songs that we can't possibly take it all in at once.

I wonder if it ever crossed Hugh's mind when the movie has been completed that THE GREATEST SHOWMAN  could have the makings of a classic?


The blogger's observations that "the audience could not take it all in at once" is true --it takes a few viewings to appreciate the storyline and character development in full. Pay particular attention to the lyrics because they do advance the story well! That plus seeing all the lovely details of the big production  and other musical numbers are a real challenge to one's eyes and ears

Re the Hugh acting moments --

I thought his face was a masterpiece of acting in many moments from the movie - wry, ironic, impressed, nervous, distressed, triumphant, exhilarated, imperious, abject, uncertain, subtle, devilish...

And yet critics never wrote about how versatile his acting moments were! They were busy finding faults with the "untruths" and could not see that the talents being displayed in this movie by everyone in the main cast are worthy of the best ensemble award!


Jo

[jo]

This is not a review --

Before the movie was released especially during the tense time of the embargo, Guy Lodge ( UK film critic who writes for Variety, Guardian, Observer, etc) and others were not too kind in their prognosis for the movie. I do remember reading the chain of tweets initiated by him and then responded to by other critics or movie press people -- mostly cynical and sometimes sarcastic comments except for one ( not Guy) who said he could not understand the pre-hate sort of campaign against the movie.

So, the tweets of Mr. Lodge is a complete surprise! Good for him if he got converted to the joyful pleasure practically everyone had experienced and tweeted about it! He is even going to the singalong!

Cheers, Mr. Lodge !!

Jo

[jo]

Wow -- this is really interesting

A chain of reactions while he was at the singalong in London - please read in reverse order :

Guy Lodge
‏Verified account

@guylodge
4h
4 hours ago
You won’t get any of that on Netflix, folks.



Guy Lodge
‏Verified account
@guylodge
4h
4 hours ago

All in all, a transcendent cinemagoing moment, 10/10, would go again. And a free T-shirt!




Guy Lodge
‏Verified account
@guylodge
4h
4 hours ago

Favourite crowd interjections: “Homewrecker!” when Rebecca Ferguson first appears, “Kiss him! Kiss him!” as Hugh rescues Zac from the fire.




Guy Lodge
‏Verified account
@guylodge
5h
5 hours ago

When you belt out ‘Never Enough’ with a crowd, it feels like you’re truly nailing it, and it’s a beautiful thing.



Guy Lodge
‏Verified account
@guylodge
5h
5 hours ago


Peak moment: the bedside reprise of ‘Rewrite the Stars’, as the crowd surged in tender, quavering song - without even a lyrical prompt.




Guy Lodge
‏Verified account
@guylodge
5h
5 hours ago

You haven’t truly seen THE GREATEST SHOWMAN until you’ve seen it with a full auditorium clap-chanting, “Tree! Tree!” in the final scene.




Guy Lodge
‏Verified account
@guylodge
5h
5 hours ago

That was a genuinely extraordinary experience.


Guy Lodge
‏Verified account
@guylodge
7h
7 hours ago

IT’S HAPPENING




Guy Lodge
‏Verified account
@guylodge
9h
9 hours ago


Fun fact: THE GREATEST SHOWMAN will be the first film I've ever seen three times in the cinema on its first run. I suppose that must make it my favourite film of all time?



Guy Lodge
‏Verified account
@guylodge
9h
9 hours ago

Like any serious London cinephile, I'm going to today's @thepcclondon singalong screening of THE GREATEST SHOWMAN. Never enough!

It sounded like fun. Guy Lodge must be writing his review of the singalong in the language of the millennials -- short and sweet and saving-time, all within the 280-word constraint of Twitter. Maybe there is a sense of irony in it (coming from a film critic as well-known as he is) but then again, he may have actually enjoyed the movie that much ( 10/10)

I'll take it


Jo

[jo]

The turnabout is unusual --

I had exchanged some earlier views re the attitude of the movie press with someone:

I was reading the twitter exchanges...and came upon this in the middle of the brief tit-for-tat :

I said some of you to be fair, there has been a big amount of pre hate online towards that film for some reason

The one who started the cynical exchanges was the Variety/Oberver writer who seems to be based in the UK ( Guy Lodge), who said that he has seen TGS...

Hence I was completely taken aback when I came upon Guy Lodge's new tweets. But after looking at his intervening tweets very briefly -- in fairness to him, it seems he was actually praising Greatest Showman ( great casting, better movie than Les Mis, etc) -- I will have to look into that later ( off for some errands).


Jo

[jo]

Sometimes the young generation has more wisdom than their elders ( in terms of laying out critiques of artistic work) --


www.the-college-reporter.com/2018/01/28/musical-film-the-greatest-showman-details-the-story-of-the-life-of-p-t-barnum/

[jo]

wesleyanargus.com/2018/02/02/greatest-showman-is-imperfect-fun/

Like some other critics, the major fault for this critic/blogger is the lack of substantive plot.


Some people think the movie as it stands is already well-written. Others have asked for more background on "the oddities". There were some comments that the positive portrayal of Barnum should include the unsavory aspects of his reputation. Which begs the question of whether the intention of the movie " as an inspired look at Barnum's quest to create mass entertainment" should be discarded for a more dramatic biopic? There have been no other significant suggestions to re-write the plot, based on social media posts and internet blogs.