One of the hardest genres of films to make are often Hollywood biographical dramas. Not only are the filmmakers placed with the task of bringing the stories regarding their historical subjects to life in a way that's faithful, they also find themselves being challenged with adding a certain flare of entertainment to their films that makes audiences engaged with their journeys. That's certainly the case with The Greatest Showman, a flashy and electrifying American musical biographical drama that places Hugh Jackman in the main leading role with the film displaying his extraordinary talent, both as a serious dramatic actor as well as channeling his Broadway stage persona. For Jackman, the film serves as being the perfect vehicle for him to unleash his versatile skills while bringing the story of P.T Barnum to the big screen with showing the creation of his American Museum, as well as exploring the lives of its main star attractions. The end result proves to be a highly satisfying and rewarding experience as The Greatest Showman not only manages to faithfully bring its subject to the big screen in a way that's respectable, but does so in a way that makes it appear and feel as being larger than life with stellar performances blending together with knockout music and strong production values, making it no mystery as to why it became one of 2017's surprise box office smash hits.
Based on a true story, the plot for The Greatest Showman focuses on the story of P.T Barnum (Played by Hugh Jackman) with the film showing the creation of his hugely successful circus through both his imagination and salesmanship. The story for The Greatest Showman is an appealing one because the film essentially tells the story of a visionary, who essentially began with nothing and rose to create a worldwide phenomenon. The movie is given a feel good atmosphere, that's full of singing and dancing with an emotional story behind it centering around a man balancing out his stardom along with being a loyal family man. The film is wonderfully acted by its main cast and brilliantly directed, even if the film takes liberties with the actual events that occurred in Barnum's life. The driving force in regards to the movie working as well as it does is the heart behind its story with the film carrying a message, that says a person's station in life is only limited by their imagination. The Greatest Showman is a film about a simple person who dared to dream big with their imagination ultimately becoming a reality. It's a story that's affectionately told with enormous enthusiasm from its main cast, as well as a pure attention to detail. Although the film may lean more towards charming the pants off audiences with its loud theatrics executed in Barnum style entertainment, it's hard to not walk away from the film with feeling some sort of satisfaction from watching the spectacle put on the screen with it being told with a genuine feeling of sincerity from the filmmakers. The Greatest Showman's main mission is to entertain audiences with their film managing to do just that in a way that would dazzle and make its real life figure proud.
As well done and thrilling as The Greatest Showman's story comes across as being, the film wouldn't be as effective as it is without the impressive performances of its talented cast. It's their performances both in terms of delivering stellar performances as well as nailing their musical numbers, that the film is able to draw the audience into the story. The best work in the film comes from Hugh Jackman himself in the films main leading role of the ambitious and entrepreneur P.T Barnum. Jackman brings a certain flare to the role with him being captivating to watch when presenting his live shows to his audience, along with him being a devoted husband and father. The audience gets a strong feel for his character and see's the conflict he experiences in terms of wanting to stretch his imagination to newer heights while slowly drifting away from his family. This is one of Jackman's best roles with the part feeling like a perfect fit for him given his experience performing live on Broadway in addition to being a professional actor. With the role of P.T Barnum, he portrays a brilliant yet flawed individual who wants to entertain his audience with something new, while struggling to balance fame with being a family man. Michelle Williams gives the second strongest performance in the film as Barnum's loving and faithful wife Charity Barnum. Like Jackman, Williams does a terrific job of playing her role with Charity clearly loving her husband yet often feels that his ambition is overshadowing their life together as a simple family. Both Jackman and Williams work well off each other and showcase believable chemistry as a struggling yet loving married couple. Williams plays her role just right and manages to convey the right emotions with her character being shown to not want the rich lifestyle her husband provides for them, but instead just wants them to be a simply loving family. Zac Efron surprises in his supporting role as Barnum's partner and playwright Philip Carlyle. Efron impresses here and makes the audience both like and empathize with his character in regards to him trying to keep Barnum's character focused and humbled towards his crew, as well as him sharing a genuine yet forbidden romance with one of the shows main attractions whose an African-American girl during an era where interracial relationships were looked down upon. Zendaya also manages to steal the show as the shows acrobat and trapeze artist Anne Wheeler, whose in love with Philip. She manages to bring some solid range to her role and share chemistry with Efron, making the audience care about their characters subplot and ultimate dilemma. Rebecca Ferguson gives a scene-stealing performance as Jenny Lind, a famous Swedish singer who becomes the main attraction of Barnum's show while pulling him further away from his family. The rest of the supporting cast delivers notable yet effective performances with Keale Settle as the bearded lady in Barnum's circus group, Yahya Abdul-Mateen ll as Anne's older brother and acrobat W.D Wheeler, Natasha Liu Bordizzo as acrobat and blade specialist Deng Yan, Paul Sparks as the founder, editor and publisher of the New York Herald who often criticizes Barnum's approach to entertaining his audiences with false illusions, Austyn Johnson as the Barnum's older daughter Caroline Barnum, and Cameron Seely as their younger daughter Helen Barnum. Overall, the cast for The Greatest Showman all deliver fantastic performances with their parts along with bringing a genuine sense of enthusiasm and energy to it. The film was always going to be made or broken on the strength of its ensemble cast with the one here exceeding expectations luckily. For Hugh Jackman, this role served as being the perfect vehicle for his combined talents in both theater and drama with the two mixing together beautifully with his work. He manages to deliver a mesmerizing performance, that carries the film with the rest of the cast being inspired to follow his lead with Williams and Efron also impressing as well as surprising here.
The directing by Michael Gracey in his directorial debut, feels both creative and inspired with him deserving major props for being able to handle the films story while giving it the visual flare demanded in order to make it engaging. He gives the film a look and atmosphere that feels colorful, authentic, and completely dazzling to watch from start to finish. In addition to the terrific performances Gracey manages to get out of his cast, he provides the film with stunning visual effects, breathtaking cinematography, and a music score that feels both moving and inspiring. The films technical elements stand out here with both the costume and set design appearing to be top notch with the audience getting the feel that they're in the films 1920's era. The cinematography stands as being one of the most appealing aspects of the film with it not only capturing the feel of being in the 1920's along with witnessing Barnum's show in action, but also showing how the films music and dancing are ultimately fused together within the film giving it a glamorous and eye-popping look to it combined with realism. In regards to the films pacing, Gracey keeps the story moving at a brisk pace that makes it feel like a train that moves non-stop without it ever feeling like its slowing down or has moments where it stalls. On a technical front, The Greatest Showman is a visual extravaganza that serves as being wonderfully executed and tightly-paced. Gracey makes sure that both the films overall look along with its story, are equally engaging as well as appealing for audiences with the film demonstrating his pure craftsmanship as a filmmaker. The fact that this project serves as being his first feature film is even more impressive and noteworthy given how well he manages to handle the ambitious scale of the production while giving an elegant and romantic feel to it.
The screenplay by Jenny Bicks and Bill Condon leans more on the spectacle side of the story rather than the personal details regarding P.T Barnum's life, but proves to be a strong effort in showing the visionary side of Barnum as well as his more personal and intimate one. The script feels as if it follows a specific rhythm that consists of a dramatic scene followed by impressive dance numbers, musicality, and showmanship with the cycle repeating itself throughout the course of the film. The script leans in more towards the spectacle side of the story rather than a detailed moment-by-moment biography of Barnum's life. The film covers themes regarding honesty, making people smile, finding ones joy in life, happiness, wealth gaps and class distinctions, the selling of virtue, freedom, thriving off controversy, destiny, relationships, and a celebration of humanity. While the script may not be 100 percent accurate in regards to capturing every detail of P.T Barnum's life, it sure does a damn fine job of capturing the essence of his life while showing the lives he changed regarding those who participated in his shows. One of the more notable aspects of the script is its emphasizing of Barnum's circus group as being heavily diverse and appreciative of the opportunity to give to them, despite dealing with hostility, confusion, and shame from both members of the audience as well as Barnum himself at certain points. The character of Barnum is shown to have an arc revolving around him desiring to make people smile with the shows he puts on along with discovering his true joy in life, which is his family. The script also shows the discrepancy between the wealth gap with Barnum's family being shown to struggle in the beginning prior to him creating his shows, as well as the class distinctions with Barnum's circus group being mistreated due to their physical appearance with them ultimately wanting acceptance. The theme of interracial relationships is also touched upon with Efron and Zendaya's chaarcters being fearful of what society would think of their relationship with the formers family looking down on Zendaya for being different. The Greatest Showman incorporates many of these themes and conflicts into its script with them all managing to weave together exceptionally well, while never losing sight of the films main focus which is to show the rise of P.T Barnum as someone who began with nothing but ends up creating a spectacle that became a worldwide sensation. The story is written with two main messages with the first being that one should always strive to make their dreams a reality, and the second being that people from all walks of life should be both celebrated as well as respected. The Greatest Showman is a film that's written as a feel good story with deep and heartfelt messages that the audience watching it can take away. It may not be the in-depth biography of the life of P.T Barnum that some audiences were expecting it to be, but the script manages to compensate for that loss with numerous moments of thrilling spectacles put on the screen regarding Barnum's show with side characters that the audience becomes invested in and ultimately cares about. One certainly feels both the sincerity and heart that went into writing the script and it shows.
Biographical dramas are made successful based on the distinct directorial style and form of storytelling that it's filmmakers bring to the screen. In the case of The Greatest Showman, the filmmakers manage to give the film a unique blend of history taking place within a historical time period and presents it in a fashion that feels larger than life with it's purpose being to both entertain, mystify, and dazzle audiences. Despite some aspects of the story feeling a tad shallow at times, director Michael Gracey does a find job of putting together a rich and grand production that blends well with its talented ensemble cast. The film comes across as feeling well-natured with its heart being in the right place, along with its desire to place audiences in the films time period as they experience one of Barnum's shows while getting the backstory behind its assembling. What ultimately carries the film to the finish line are the performances from its cast (Hugh Jackman in particular) along with its killer soundtrack and stellar cinematography and production design, giving audiences both the believability and realism that they're experiencing these shows with these characters in the films historical setting. The Greatest Showman is a film that feels formulaic but is made with the most noblest of intentions to entertain and inform audiences about a specific point in history, while driving home a powerful yet poignant message regarding the pursuit of ones dreams as well as their own search for happiness. The film may not be as in-depth on the life of P.T Barnum as audiences were anticipating it to be, but they'll be more than satisfied by what's shown on the screen in regards to the showmanship that Jackman and his killer cast demonstrate. For history buffs as well as fans of Hugh Jackman, The Greatest Showman is a fun and ultimately exciting experience that will both please and thrill audiences who aren't looking for a documentary style drama on Barnum's life, but want to experience one of his shows live through stellar acting and brilliant filmmaking. In all honesty, that's perhaps the best way to look at the film without feeling somewhat underwhelmed by its hesitance to go deeper into the life of its main subject.
Final Verdict: For entertainment purposes and the delivering of a fairly decent representation of history, The Greatest Showman is worth watching and will satisfy more so than disappoint.
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