The Greatest Showman

     Oh look! Yet another review for The Greatest Showman! Seriously, it seems like every blogger and their dog have reviewed this movie. So everytime I gear up to sit down and write my review, I see two more reviews in my reading list (which I will read them all soon!). That being said, if there was a movie that deserves a good review it is most definitely this unique film starring Hugh Jackman as the legendary P.T. Barnum. While not exactly historically accurate this film is lively, colorful and emotional with beautiful music and stunning costumes. Musicals are clearly making a big comeback and The Greatest Showman is proving to be one of the best.

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     Phineas Barnum was always a dreamer, of course he had to be as the son of a poor tailor. Barnum is not content to remain a poor man and has his heart set on two things, making something of himself and win the hand of beautiful Charity Hallett, a well to do girl who is just as much of a dreamer as he is. Overtime, Barnum and Charity marry and settle down in a humble New York apartment where they have two daughters, Caroline and Helen. Barnum is working well as a job clerk until company bankruptcy and now he has no idea how to provide for his family. 

     And then he begins to dream...Soon Barnum has a plan to make a museum of the weird and strange for the people of New York. Gathering artifacts and oddities, but is unsuccessful. However, Barnum is determined and sets out to find the strange not in things, but people. He gathers together a rag tag group of performers which includes an opinionated dwarf, a talented bearded woman, the 'world's tallest man,' the dog man, a set of conjoined twins, a fully tattooed man and brother and sister trapeze act.

     Suddenly, Barnum finds unexpected success. People that were once hidden away were now center stage and were no longer having to live in fear and shame. While he makes money off his success, not everyone is happy with the the showcasing of these broken and disabled degenerates. However, the people he has brought together find camaraderie and family in one another and if anything, Barnum wants them to know they have a place where they belong.

     Eventually, Barnum hires Phillip Carlyle to serve as his business partner. Phillip comes from one of the wealthiest families in America, but is desperate to make a name for himself, even if it is as a failing play write. When Phillip reluctantly joins, he finds himself completely in awe of the people of Barnum's Museum, but most especially with Anne Wheeler, a beautiful acrobat who knows that as an African American she will never be accepted by Phillip's society.  

     As a Carlyle, Phillip has many high connections and manages to use them well making Barnum's New York attraction into an international success. While in England, Barnum meets the famed Swedish opera singer, Jenny Lind and sees her as a perfect attraction for his business. Jenny agrees and comes to the states with Barnum and Phillip where she takes America by storm. Although the crowds love her, Barnum's other employees are fed up with being hidden away while a beautiful opera singer is made the main attraction.

     While everything may seem absolutely perfect for Barnum, seeds of anger and prejudice begin to take root and Phillip and the other employees begin to bear the brunt. While touring with Jenny, Barnum realizes he has neglected his family and wants to return to the states. When he returns home though he finds heartbreak, disaster and possible loss in everything he has built. Now, with only his family, Philip and his performers, Barnum must return back to his childhood dreams of building something from nothing and never giving into what society tells you that you are worth. 

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     As always, Hugh Jackman does not disappoint. In reality, P.T. Barnum was a real low-life that would do anything for fame and money. Yet, Hugh made him so endearing and inspirational that you can almost really care less for the real person and rather root for the fictional character. Zac Efron made his debut in musicals and it's great to see him come back to singing and performing. Like always, he was charming and endearing and Phillip's practicality was a much needed asset to Barnum's eccentricity. Hugh and Zac had a great onscreen chemistry and you could really see the father/son relationship that develops in both characters. 

      The rest of the supporting cast including Michelle Williams (Charity), Rebecca Ferguson (Jenny Lind), Zendaya (Anne Wheeler), Keala Settle (Lettie Lutz, the bearded lady) and Sam Humphrey (Charles Statton, Tom Thumb) were exceptional in their roles bringing both laughter and tears. The music was just astounding! Every number performed beautifully with a modern touch to all of them. There wasn't a boring or bad song at all!

     The Greatest Showman was a musical that just keeps you singing all the time. The moral messages of not judging on appearances is an obvious factor that couldn't be avoided, but at the same time, even in 2018, we still tend to look down on those who are disfigured and disabled. It's wrong and inhumane to others who may have been born differently; they are still human and are just as deserving of love and respect as any other able bodied person. Hopefully, The Greatest Showman can challenge the ideas of 'the perfect person' as well as giving us heroes in the everyday man and the not so so ordinary man as well.