Russell Crowe has stepped up to defend Les Misérables after American Idol finalist Adam Lambert skewered the movie via Twitter.
@Brunettemom123 @adamlambert I don't disagree with Adam,sure it could have been sweetened,Hooper wanted it raw and real,that's how it is
—
Russell Crowe (@russellcrowe) January 02, 2013
Over the weekend, Lambert released a multi-tweet review of the film in which he said while “visually impressive,” “the score suffered massively with great actors PRETENDING to be singers.”
Ouch. (He also singled out Anne Hathaway, Sacha Baron Cohen, Helena Bonham Carter, Aaron Tveit and Samantha Barks, who played Eponine, as the exceptions to that assessment.)
But Crowe, who plays Javert in the film, defended the film in a response to a fan yesterday, saying that he didn’t disagree with Lambert and that while the music “could have been sweetened,” director Tom Hooper “wanted it raw and real, that’s how it is.”
Lambert is far from the only longtime fan of the musical to have a mixed review of the movie, but regardless of the continued debate, the film’s soundtrack debuted at the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Soundtracks chart, selling 43,000 units. At the box office, Les Mis won Christmas day and finished third over the weekend with $28 million in ticket sales.
Twitter recap:
Les Mis: Visually impressive w great Emotional performances. But the score suffered massively with great actors PRETENDING to be singers.—
Adam Lambert (@adamlambert) December 30, 2012
…it's an opera. Hollywoods movie musicals treat the singing as the last priority. (Dreamgirls was good)—
Adam Lambert (@adamlambert) December 30, 2012
Anne Hathaway as Fantine and Enjolras were the exceptions for me.—
Adam Lambert (@adamlambert) December 30, 2012
Helena B Carter and Sasha B Cohen were great too.—
Adam Lambert (@adamlambert) December 30, 2012
And I do think it was cool they were singing live- but with that cast, they should have studio recorded and sweetened the vocals.—
Adam Lambert (@adamlambert) December 30, 2012
Eponine's voice was cool too…—
Adam Lambert (@adamlambert) December 30, 2012
I felt like I should ignore the vocals and focus on the emotional subtext- but the singing was so distracting at times it pulled me out.—
Adam Lambert (@adamlambert) December 30, 2012
The industry will say "these actors were so brave to attempt singing this score live"but why not cast actors who could actually sound good?—
Adam Lambert (@adamlambert) December 30, 2012
I'm so glad we are all discussing this now! Look-I grew up w this musical and so my expectations are quite high. Didn't mean to b negative.—
Adam Lambert (@adamlambert) December 31, 2012
Sorry for being so harsh but it's so True!—
Adam Lambert (@adamlambert) December 30, 2012
@Brunettemom123 @adamlambert I don't disagree with Adam,sure it could have been sweetened,Hooper wanted it raw and real,that's how it is—
Russell Crowe (@russellcrowe) January 02, 2013
Related:
Movie Talk with Owen & Lisa: ‘Les Miserables’ incites ‘mixed feelings’
Box office report: ‘The Hobbit’ outdraws ‘Django’ and ‘Les Mis’ with $32.9 million
