REVIEW: The Greatest Showman

Courtesy of 20th Century Fox

As someone who teaches and writes about film for a living, I watch a lot of them. However, there aren’t enough hours in the day to see everything, so it’s inevitable that some releases fall through the cracks. For a while, I assumed that The Greatest Showman, Hugh Jackman’s tribute to classic Hollywood musicals, would be another unfortunate victim of “too many movies, not enough time.”

I missed the press screening because I was out of town, and then a thousand other movies that opened during the holiday season fought for my attention. As a result, the intriguing (and highly fictionalized) story of renowned entertainer/businessman P.T. Barnum was lower on my list of priorities than it should’ve been.

When it opened to tepid reviews and grossed a measly $8.8 million the first weekend, I assumed it would die a quick death and I’d check it out on Blu-ray in a couple of months. Then something crazy happened.

Most high-profile releases are lucky if they make 50 percent of their initial haul the following weekend. Instead, The Greatest Showman went up. A lot. According to Box Office Mojo, it took in $14.4 million, meaning business jumped 76 percent. That’s practically unheard of.

Because of incredible word-of-mouth and repeat viewers, Jackman’s film overcame a rough start to gross nearly $300 million worldwide in just over seven weeks. The last movie to follow this unusual track to success? A little arthouse flick called Titanic. Maybe you’ve heard of it?

Kidding aside, The Greatest Showman is breaking records and making history – for good reason. It’s an incredibly fun, unabashedly melodramatic throwback to an age when actors and filmmakers weren’t ashamed of musicals; a time when studios didn’t have to trick viewers into watching them through misleading trailers.

My theory? It’s the first totally original Hollywood musical of the post-Hamilton era. (Some might argue La La Land came first, but Damien Chazelle had been working on that one since 2010, years before the hip-hop musical about America’s founding fathers became a cultural phenomenon.) Audiences have reacquainted themselves with musicals, especially ones that use purposely anachronistic music to tell the story of a bygone era.

That recipe is precisely what makes The Greatest Showman such a delight. It uses modern pop songs (infused with a hip-hop beat, just like anything you’d hear on Kiss 102.7, Star 94 or Q100) to help viewers connect emotionally with a period they might otherwise have a tough time identifying with.

Combine that with Jackman’s killer lead performance and equally strong ensemble work from Zac Efron, Zendaya, Michelle Williams and a star-making turn from stage veteran Keala Settle, and you’ve got Hollywood magic. When the end credits rolled, my wife and I were tempted to stay in our seats for the next show. If we didn’t already have Super Bowl plans, we might’ve done just that.

The plot isn’t groundbreaking by any means: poor man with a dream (Jackman) falls in love with a woman above his station (Williams) and strives to prove himself worthy of her affection. Then, once children enter their lives, he works to make a better life for his family. In Barnum’s case, that means creating a spectacle that initially provoked ridicule but eventually became a beloved American institution.

He recruits a team of entertainers – considered freaks by the outside world – that relish the opportunity to utilize their talents rather than hide them. Led by amazing singer Lettie Lutz (Settle), aka the Bearded Woman, trapeze artist Anne Wheeler (Zendaya) and little person Tom Thumb (Sam Humphrey), Barnum’s revue takes the country by storm and only becomes more popular when he convinces upper-class producer Phillip Carlyle (Efron) to come aboard.

Although rookie director Michael Gracey utilizes CGI a bit more than I would’ve preferred, his vision gives the proceedings a dreamlike heightened sense of reality. Combine that with a charmingly old-fashioned screenplay by Jenny Bicks and Bill Condon, along with terrific songs from Oscar winners Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (the aforementioned La La Land) and the result is an emotional journey that packs far more power that a brief synopsis can describe.

Only the most hardhearted viewer could watch Jackman and Efron sing the show-stopping “The Other Side” without a big smile on his face. And don’t even get me started on Settle’s amazing rendition of “This Is Me.” If you can make it through that number without brushing away tears, you’re a stronger person than me.

One of my favorite parts of this job is running into people who want to talk about movies. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been asked about The Greatest Showman more than any other film currently in theaters. When I admitted I hadn’t had a chance to see it yet, people looked at me like I had a third ear growing in the middle of my forehead – now I understand why. This is a rare theatrical phenomenon whose impact we’ll be feeling for years to come.

The Greatest Showman is rated PG for thematic elements including a brawl.

Grade: A-