Roger Ebert on “Les Miserables”

Roger Ebert, who missed out on some of the year’s big Oscar-season releases, finally caught up with Les Misérables.

What did he think?

Well, let’s just say I feel a little less lonely this morning.

He writes:

Looking at the nine films nominated for Best Picture, I find only one that I flatly don’t believe was a good film, the near-unbearable “Les Miserables.” Victor Hugo’s superbly entertaining novel has been transformed into a lumbering musical of dirges that rise and fall, with the occasional relief of a little rinky-dink tune. Not only do you fail to come out humming the songs, you almost don’t realize they are songs. Hugo’s set piece about the escape through the sewers of Paris is one of the great passages in fiction, and although the film indeed shows it, it doesn’t bring it to life.

In case you missed it, here’s my review.