As musicals have evolved, the transition certainly has been a positive one. Back in the day, the plot of musicals were hardly even connected with the musical numbers, but as time has gone by, the more they have connected, which makes for a more cohesive story, As with the case of "The Greatest Showman", the songs have everything to do with the story's plot.
Inspired by the imagination of P.T. Barnum (Hugh Jackman), this is an original musical that celebrates the birth of show business and tells of a visionary who rose from nothing to create a spectacle that became a worldwide sensation by starting a circus in 1870's America. This is about a man who believed in celebrating those who were different, including Anne Wheeler (Zendaya), Lettie Lutz (Keala Settle) and Tom Thumb (Sam Humphrey), instead of scorning them. As society continues to not embrace his brand of entertainment, he decides to talk top producer, Phillip Carlyle (Zac Efron) into joining his venture in hopes to legitimize his circus.
Others to round out the cast are Michelle Williams as Charity Barnum, P.T.'s wife, Rebecca Ferguson as Jenny Lind, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as W.D. Wheeler, Austin Johnson as Caroline Barnum, P.T. and Charity's daughter, Cameron Seely as Helen Barnum, P.T. and Charity's other daughter, Eric Anderson as Mr. O'Malley and Paul Sparks as James Gordon Bennett.
This was amazingly directed well be newbie, Michael Gracey ("Naruto" is in pre-production). For being a filmmaker that doesn't even have TV experience, must less anything else, I was amazed by the pacing, staging and continuity of this film. There are so many seasoned directors that don't have this much talent. This guy will go far! It was brilliantly written by Jenny Bicks ("What a Girl Wants" '03, "Modern Love" (TV movie) '12, "Rio 2" '14, "A Lot" (TV movie) '16) plus a ton of TV and Bill Condon ("F/X 2" '91, "Gods and Monsters" '98, "Chicago" '02, "Dreamgirls" '06, "Tilda" (TV movie) '11) plus others, based on a story by Bicks. The way the songs were intertwined within the screenplay was incredible, however with Condon working on this story coupled with Bicks' story, how could this go wrong. The songs were just as catchy as those in "La La Land", but considering the songwriters, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul of this film were the same as "La La Land", it should be of no surprise. It's no wonder why this has been nominated for 3 Golden Globe awards including best song, actor and picture.
If you're a musical fan, you'll most certainly love this, but even if you're not, the catchy lyrics and entertaining story will keep you riveted to your seat until it's time to jump from your seats and cheer loudly for these entertainers. This entertains us, has heart, jumps out at you all with great songs, and isn't this why we go see movies?
Out of 4 Stars: 4 Rated: PG 105mins.
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