alobear | The Town and Les Mis reviews

The Town is Ben Affleck's new film, which he directed and stars in. It seemed to me to be about the inevitability of how your life turns out, based on where you grow up, with the central character seemingly doomed to be a bank robber just because that's what his father and all his friends do. I found it difficult to really sympathise with any of the characters, except perhaps the witness - the whole film was quite morally ambiguous, which made it both interesting but not particularly emotionally engaging. It felt a bit like "Good Will Hunting - fifteen years on", in that it examined a group of lower class Boston projects residents, and had themes of identity and class boundaries. I found some of the characters difficult to understand in places, which may have been deliberate. I think it was quite a good film overall, though not one that had much of an impact on me.

My other cinematic experience of yesterday was the live broadcast of the 25th anniversary Les Mis concert, which was mostly fantastic. The live feed dropped out a couple of times, which was annoying, but we didn't miss too much, and it's not as if I haven't seen it before. Alfie Boe was the best Valjean I've ever seen, and his amazing voice stood out quite dramatically when three other Valdjeans from past productions joined him during the finale. Ramin Karimloo also stood out as Enjolras, and Norm Lewis made a strong Javert, though I was disappointed that he overdid the melodrama a bit during his suicide scene, which is one of my favourite moments. Matt Lucas surprised me with a really good Thenardier - he certainly fits the character, but I had no idea he could sing so well. The only weak cast member really was Nick Jonas as Marius - when he was singing on his own, he hit all the right notes and didn't sound too bad, but he didn't have the power to compete with the rest of the cast during ensemble pieces. Everyone made the best of the concert format, with most of the cast putting as much acting into their performances as the static mikes and limited stage space would allow. Les Mis is always worth seeing, in my opinion, and I'm really glad I got to experience this 25th anniversary show, especially without having to get home from the O2 during a tube strike!