EDIT: The Greatest Showman is now available on HBO Go.
$5.99 to rent/$19.99 to buy on iTunes and worth every damn penny!
Metadata: 2017 | PG | 1h 45 minÂ
Genre:Â Musical
Why did I watch:Â Â I had Grace and our friend Tess over for movie night, and this was our quickly and mutually agreed-upon pick. It just felt right, you know? (Also: Why wouldn't you want to watch Hugh Jackman and Zac Efron and Michelle Williams and Zendaya in a musical about the circus??)Â
You might also like: Well, we paired this with a bottle of wine and pizza, so there's that. You might also want to go ahead and download Spotify so that you can listen to the soundtrack on repeat afterward! (Or really, just "This Is Me" over and over again.) But movie-wise? The colors and dance numbers and music remind me of the new Beauty and the Beast, streaming on Netflix.Â
Y'all. This is just plain and simply a dadgum delightful movie. I really don't know how I missed it in theaters, which is a shame because the colors and music would have been even more beautiful on the big screen! This film's project is simple: It's a musicalized version of underdog showman P. T. Barnum as he founds the circus that would later become Barnum & Bailey's. Helmed by Hugh Jackman playing Barnum and Michelle Williams (who deserved many, many more lines than she got) playing his wife, Charity Hallett, The Greatest Showman is a rags-to-riches story of the best kind, with a happy ending, a love story, and so many shining moments in between!
Critics hated the film, but moviegoers loved it—and I'm here to say that the masses are right on this one. Yes, there are holes. Yes, I want there to be stronger character development. Yes, it's not historically accurate . . . But the rest of it! The songs, which were written by the Oscar- and Tony-winning duo Benj Pasek and Justin Paul aka the team from La La Land, are so catchy and positive and singable. The love story between Anne (Zendaya) and Carlyle (Zac Efron) is perfection. Lettie Lutz who plays the "bearded lady," played by Tony-nominee Keala Settle, has vocals that will knock your socks absolutely off. I found myself totally swept up, goose bumps crawling up my arms throughout the entire thing.Â
My only regret is renting and not buying this movie, because I could literally watch it over and over and over, etc. This is a guaranteed wonderful watch! (Really. Invoice me for a refund on Venmo if you don't like it—I'm that confident you will be as obsessed as I am.)
xo, Liz
