The exceptional cast of this latest film adaptation of "Les Misérables" includes Liam Neeson (who has a very commanding on-screen presence in the film), Geoffrey Rush (another excellent performance, although this one is somewhat villainous), Uma Thurman (who never impressed me until now), and Claire Danes (wonderful as always). They all gave excellent performances, and it's a major reason I liked the film. By the way, Uma hasn't looked this bad (appropriately so) since she was out cold with blood and spit all over her face in "Pulp Fiction."
This film adaptation was written by Rafael Yglesias whose most notable previous work was writing the book and screenplay "Fearless." It was directed by Bille August who did "Smilla's Sense of Snow" and "The House of Spirits." Together, they helped to make a film that wasn't as boring as it could have been, but was still a bit slow at times.
I have no
idea what people who know the story will think of this film. As a rookie,
I liked it. The thing is, it's very hard to look at Liam Neeson in a movie
and not think to myself, "Whoa, that guy's gonna be in 'Star
Wars: Episode One - The Phantom Menace'!" He has his sci-fi geek side
to him. After all, his breakout role was in Sam Raimi's "Darkman," remember?
Okay, I'm babbling a bit now. My apologies.