Movie Review: Chicago

[M2d]

As a disclaimer, I never saw the stage show, so any speculating I do about the merits of the movie versus the stage production are merely that: speculation.

It was pretty entertaining. I can see how difficult it was to adapt the stage show to the big screen while keeping the spirit of the stage intact. I think they did an admirable job of it.

The movie format provides the director a means of maintaining the story line better than is possible than on stage. They were able to provide action scenes spliced into dance and song numbers to help the audience understand the plot lines. I can see where live audiences could have been puzzled about the meanings of some of the songs, but the movie format kept the plot going.

The movie probably lost some of the effect that the live dance numbers had. They were fun on screen, but would have been more impressive live.

Queen Latifa was surprisingly good as mama, and Richard Gere showed off some hoofing talent. My only real complaint was too many Renee' Zellweiger closeups. She's cute in general, but closeups bring out all of her (aesthetic) flaws.

[andyfox]

I had seen the stage show here in L.A. and didn't care for it.

The movie was better, and everyone I've spoken to loved it, except for me. It was OK. Sort of Fosse meets Moulin Rouge, and I hated Moulin Rouge.

R.Z. was OK, Zita-Jones was great, Queen Latifa was great, and Richard Gere was embarrassingly bad. His tap-dance was OK, but his singing was beyond bad. After his opening song, I whispered to my wife "this is the end of his career." He gets somewhat better later on, but not by much.

The biggest problem with the music, as I see it, is that there aren't 14 songs--the same song is done 14 times. All the music has the same sound and feel and the de rigeur big ending. And each song is cut up, sort of stopping and starting.

[M2d]

I actually liked Gere's performance. Not that I thought he was a great (or even good) singer or dancer, but the fact that he departed from his tried and true formula for movie success impressed me. More the effort than the product.

[andyfox]

I'm not a Gere fan, so perhaps that's coloring my perception of his performance. (Then again, I've never liked Nicole Kidman in anything, and I thought she was fantastic in The Hours.)

Most people I've spoken to agree with you, applauding both his effort and his performance. Different strokes for different folks, I guess.

[M2d]

Andy,
just for the record, I applaud his effort way more than his performance. If performance only were the criteria, I think Robert Downey Jr. would have been great in that role. It was fun to see Gere sweat, though, trying to do something that he isn't comfortable doing.

[John Cole]

BTW, Robert Downey Jr. will be playing the lead in the film version of Dennis Potter's great BBC series, The Singing Detective. I'll be curious to see how it (and he) holds up.

If you haven't seen it, then you should check out Pennies From Heaven, another of Potter's works, which features Christopher Walken in a mesmerizing dance routine.

John

[andyfox]

Not a great movie, but worthwhile seeing if you haven't, is Downey's performance in Chaplin.