This is the first time that I have actually seen this story and to put it bluntly, it simply blew my mind, right to the point that as I am writing this I am listening to the songs on You-Tube. The one thing that unfortunately drags this particular movie down (and pretty much everything else about this film is absolutely spectacular) is Sacha Baron Cohen. Every scene in which he was in was painful (and maybe that is still a hangover from Borat) and as far as I am concerned, he completely butchered 'Master of the House' (though it was redeemed with 'oohh Santa!', if you have seen the film you will know what I mean).
Basically the story is about grace and how one man responds to grace. Many times I have heard pastors use this story to describe grace (and they namely refer to the scene where the bishop responds to Valjean's theft of the silverware with the statement that it was gift, and the only problem was that he left too early because he forgot to take the candle sticks). If it be only that scene that made this story stand out then that would be enough, but it goes much further because the whole theme of the story is about how Valjean responds to this act of grace in that he completely turns his life around and becomes a well respected citizen.
Still, believe it or not, there is even more. This story is almost Shakespearian in scope in that there are at least three or four plots intermeshed into the story (with the main plot being the redemption of Valjean). For instance, we have a love story, a story of self sacrifice, an exploration of the life of the peasant in early 19th century France, a failed revolution, and of course, the dogged pursuit of Valjean by his nemesis Javert.
I remember making a comment about Cohen on a facebook entry and a friend of mine responded by making a snide comment about Russell Crowe singing, and maybe that tarnished the film a bit, but after seeing it, I don't think Crowe did a bad job at all, and if fact I think he took up the challenge and succeeded with flying colours. In fact, by the end of the movie I had no problem with Russell Crowe playing a major role at all. As for Hugh 'Wolverine show us your claws' Jackman, well, we all know that he can sing and that he has starred in musicals previously, and as the main character, he was absolutely superb.
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