#101 THE GREATEST SHOWMAN

Starring Hugh Jackman, Zac Efron, Michelle Williams, Rebecca Ferguson, Zendaya . Writen by Jenny Bicks and Bill Condon. Directed by Michael Gracey. Music by John Debney and John Trapanese. Running time 105 minutes. Budget $84 million.

The potted, homogenised and sanitised bio-pic of P.T. Barnum (Hugh Jackman), renowned showman, politician and a civil rights activist. The film races through the life of this remarkable man at a break-neck pace, showing us his life from childhood (and extreme poverty) to young business man happily married to his childhood sweetheart, Charity Hallet (Michelle Williams) before fatherhood brings him and us up to speed with the particular stage of his life the film wants to focus on and all before the ten minute mark! Phew. Then it just carries on at that pace for the rest of the film's rather brief running time. After that, the young Barnum loses his job, and embarks on a dream of opening a wax works museum, which in turn leads to the creation of Barnum's first circus showcasing the talents of a hand-picked cast of freaks that he auditions. But hubris gets the better of him and in his desire to be accepted by high society he embarks on a tour with the Swedish Song bird, Jenny Lind (Rebeca Ferguson) with disastrous results.Then it's time for the arrival of the third act when everything goes tits up and he loses literally everything leaving us to watch his rise again through the love of not only a good wife, good children but also his good cast of human misfits who teach him the importance of 'family'. And one final song.

All told through the medium of interpretative song and dance, because do not be mistaken THIS is a mother-fucking musical! And not one of your boring old-fashioned musicals, no sir-rie, this is a modern, post-LaLa Land musical and all that that entails. Frenzied editing, massive dance numbers and a song every few minutes. Although none of the songs seem that different to each other and it's hard to work out when one ends and a new one begins, leaving the strange sensation that it's just been the same song playing the entire movie. Also the music sounds anachronistic to the era, once more making it hard to fully engage with the film.

And yet, incredibly, this still managed to be surprisingly entertaining, Hugh Jackman's passion for this type of performance is impossible to deny and he wears his heart on his sleeve, giving it his all, much as he did in Les Miserables a few years back. Actually, everyone in this gives it their all, belting out the song and throwing themselves into each spectacular dance sequence. The trouble is that so short is the film that we never get any real development or back story for the characters and that leaves one feeling short changed, you sort of wish the film would just slow down a bit and give the massive cast a chance to shine.

This is an entertaining enough slice of fun which is at its strongest when the talented cast just get on with singing and dancing. Less successful are the technical elements of the film which let this film down severely. The CGI is shocking, as is the animation – particularly when it comes to Tom Thumb and also the appalling animated animals. Like wise the painted back drops and hideous garish colours make this look like a homage to the glorious days of Technicolour, but dialled up to 11.

Offering no threat to the glory days of the great Hollywood musicals this is still a surprisingly enjoyable with a great cast and some lovely performances, plus it makes you want to read up more about the real life Barnum and Lind. 7/10