Movie · 2012 · History, Drama · 2h 38m · PG-13 · English
Curator score: 5.2/10 (823.9K ratings)
Fight. Dream. Hope. Love.
Overview
An adaptation of the successful stage musical based on Victor Hugo's classic novel set in 19th-century France. Jean Valjean, a man imprisoned for stealing bread, must flee a relentless policeman named Javert. The pursuit consumes both men's lives, and soon Valjean finds himself in the midst of the student revolutions in France.
Ratings
Curator score: 5.2/10
IMDb: 7.5/10
Letterboxd: 3.62/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 70%
Metacritic: 63
TMDB: 7.3/10
Director
Tom Hooper
Production
Universal Pictures, Working Title Films, Cameron Mackintosh Ltd., Relativity Media, Working Title Films
Cast
Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Amanda Seyfried, Anne Hathaway, Eddie Redmayne, Sacha Baron Cohen, Helena Bonham Carter, Aaron Tveit, Samantha Barks, Daniel Huttlestone, Fra Fee, Hugh Skinner, Alistair Brammer, Killian Donnelly, Adam Pearce, Ian Pirie, Tim Downie, Bertie Carvel, Colm Wilkinson, Michael Jibson
Curator Review
Verdict
A grand, emotionally maximalist musical that turns Victor Hugo’s tragedy into a sweeping, often messy but genuinely stirring spectacle. It’s uneven in the filmmaking, but the performances, melodies, and sheer operatic intensity make it a rewarding watch for viewers who want big feelings over polish.
Best for
musical fans who like sung-through storytelling
viewers who enjoy tragic historical epics
people who respond to heightened emotion and melodrama
audiences interested in revolution, redemption, and sacrifice
Skip if
you dislike live-sung musicals
you need crisp, restrained filmmaking
you’re impatient with long runtimes and emotional excess
you want a subtle or historically grounded adaptation
Overview
Tom Hooper’s Les Misérables is a rare studio musical that aims for raw feeling over elegance. The result is frequently awkward in the mechanics of performance and camera movement, but it also creates a strange, immediate intimacy: the singing is exposed, the anguish is constant, and the story lands with operatic force.
Worth noting
What makes it endure is the collision of scale and vulnerability. The film treats poverty, revolution, obsession, and grace as matters of life and death, and it never really lets up. Even when the staging feels ungainly, the emotional architecture is strong enough to carry the whole thing.
Bottom line
This is not a polished crowd-pleaser so much as a fervent, overcommitted one. If you’re open to a musical that is earnest to the point of self-immolation, it can be exhilarating; if you want refinement, it may feel like a beautiful mess.
Top Letterboxd reviews
clownhead (4.5★) · 5702 likes
i love every inch of this heavy-handed, poorly shot, badly sung masterpiece to pieces and it makes me wanna believe in god
Jay Cheel (1★) · 5116 likes
I wouldn't say I 'watched' Les Misérables. I kind of just sat in front of it and waited. And waited. And waited.
sophie (4.5★) · 4880 likes
javert found out that not all people are completely evil and decided that he needed to die because of this information
sophie (4.5★) · 4568 likes
valjean: let's get this bread
javert: not on my fucking watch
mica (3.5★) · 4414 likes
left brain: too long and objectively not that good
right brain: DO YOU HEAR THE PEOPLE SING SINGING THE SONG OF ANGRY MEN IT IS THE MUSIC OF THE PEOPLE WHO WILL NOT BE SLAVES AGAIN [rips shirt off] WHEN THE BEATING OF YOUR HEART ECHOES THE BEATING OF THE DRUMS [waves shirt around like a football fan] THERE IS A LIFE ABOUT TO START WHEN TOMORROW COMES [dies]