Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera - *1/2
Now Playing: (2004, Joel Schumacher) [seen in theatre]
This adaptation of the blockbuster Broadway musical is something of a bore- handsomely mounted, but curiously flat tonally. Some of the blame can be traced back to the source material, a show that's more impressive for its spectacle than its repetitive score or thin characterizations. The greater literalness of film magnifies these problems while rendering the spectacle a bit humdrum- the chandelier crashing in the stage version works because it's plummeting towards the actual theatre audience, and so when it's descending upon nameless extras it's hard to muster up the same sense of awe. But director Schumacher is hardly blameless either, largely because he's not the kind of filmmaker who can milk the material for its most fascinating aspects. The film really needed a Brian DePalma- someone who could have milked the melodrama and thriller aspects, whose flair for the Grand Guignol is so acute that he could have turned, say, Christine's first descent into the Phantom's lair into a real moment out of time. Schumacher, on the other hand, is a filmmaker distinguished largely by his ability to make films that look like any other journeyman filmmaker- polished but uninspired. But there are other problems still, most obvious of which is the Phantom himself- Gerard Butler, the "young sexy Phantom" Schumacher cast in the role, is a good enough actor, but as a singer he lacks the vocal presence of a man who has allegedly seduced the young Christine with his voice (all his songs sound as though he recorded them with a severe head cold). Emmy Rossum fares better as Christine (she has a lovely voice, and wears the lavish costumes very well) but both her and Patrick Wilson (as Raoul) sing their roles using American diction and pronunciation, which is a great miscalculation, particularly in the case of Christine, who is supposed to be a trained and talented singer- every time the characters pronounced "Angel" like "ain-jull" or "opera" like "op-ruh" I cringed a bit. There is some enjoyment to be gotten from the film- the set and costumes are impressive, and some of the supporting performances get into the spirit of the proceedings much more than the leads. Miranda Richardson is very good as the shady Madame Giry, Ciaran Hinds and Simon Callow have an amusing double-act quality as the Opera Populaire's new owners Andre and Firmin, and Minnie Driver is a hoot (hey, I'm surprised too) as the vain, strutting peacock diva La Carlotta. But while truth in pseudo-journalism requires me to mention the film's good points, complimenting them as I have is a little like going to a fancy restaurant and singling out the hors d'oeuvres for praise, when the main course was in fact severely lacking.