The Greatest Showman takes place in New York, starting off strong with one of the staple songs "The Greatest Show" capturing the audiences attention immediately. The circus is in full lights, color, and action when the story slowly backtracks from there. The vision is very encapturing, I was fully invested into the young P. T Barnum and the dream he was trying to accomplish. He believed in it and I believed too, it was exciting to see how he would achieve it. Despite the struggles he faced I was, for the most part, rooting for him the whole way through.
For a more in-depth look I'm going to highlight the main characters, the songs, a few technical aspects and then the story as a whole.
The man himself, Phineas Barnum is one of two charters we see actually grow up and get a before and after idea of the person he used to be and becomes by the end of the movie. He is played by Ellis Rubin as a young boy and Hugh Jackman as an adult and is definitely one of the shining beacons in the movie. Briefly, his dream as a boy was to create something unique, different, and creative that really changed people. Not trying to be a major spoiler, but growing up eventually he accomplishes that despite any pitfalls along the way and creates the circus. His struggles seemed real, the hardships to provide something more for his families when he came from nothing is relateable and gets people emotionally invested. I enjoyed the vision Barnum created, it was believable and seeing the show in its full swing during the song "Come Alive" was amazing and everything I hoped it would be. For all the excitement that comes in the first half of the movie I believe it begins to fall the moment Barnum loses sight of this very dream.
After a few bad choices ,like reject his original performers in favor of appealing to a more prestigious audience, I became less engaged with the movie. I did not like how he handle the fame that came his way, and I thought he got very little punishment and backlash for the poor choices he made. I felt like he fell off his high horse, but didn't fall hard enough for me to feel justified for what he did. I also believe he could have avoided a lot of his situations, for example his wife, who was played by Charity Barnum played by Skylar Dunn as a young girl and Michele Williams as an adult, left him after the newspaper scandal. If he would have communicated with the people around him a bit more she might have understood the hole he felt the need to continuously fulfill with success. Here's an idea he could have spoken to his original performers of the circus and explained I don't maybe something along the lines of "Hey guys this is a different group of people I'm trying to appeal to, it will really benefit us, but I haven't forgotten about you all though" What do I know, that might have been too easy, so I concede. At the end of the day P.T Barnum was the star of the show and appreciate his role in the movie.
Barnum starts the circus alone, outside of the support of his wife and two girls, but doesn't end it alone. His partner in crime was Phillip Carlyle played by Zac Effron. He is a rich playwright who knows his way around a prestigious crowd. He is a major reasons as to why Barnum is able to appeal to audiences like the queen of England. I like the progression of this character and how he started off as a rich snob who sort of humbled himself the more he hung around the original circus performers and associated him self with them.Barnum did the complete opposite and became more pompous as the movie progressed. Carlyle was an interesting character and I enjoyed his relationship development with one of the original circus performers Anne Wheeler played by Zendaya. The relationship was arguably rushed for the time span that they knew each other, but it didn't detract much from my enjoyment of seeing these two actors together and I believe they did a good job.
Jenny Lind played by Rebeca Ferguson was a Swedish singer and was Barnum's ticket to appealing to the upper class. After hearing her song "Never be enough" he convinced her to join as one of his acts and his career soared to new heights. This is when, for me, the movie was starting to falter. I understood the success she brought, but I could not agree with Barnum for dropping everything and following her on a tour for fame. I also felt like the semi-relationship that was dropped between them wasn't very believable, so when she quit it felt a bit dramatic.
Lettie Lutz one of the recruit for circus and probably the most influential. Her act was the bearded lady with a powerful voice and she was played by Keala Settle. She was another star in this movie that helped it really come together. She was fun to watch and was at the forefront of fighting for the original circus performers every time. Her song "This is me" is a staple and another very recognizable song from this movie. She sings this along with the rest of the performers after being rejected and its powerful and the message really resonates.
On a different note, some questioned the authenticity of the movie. Outside of the fact that P.T Barnum did create the circus, the accuracy is hit or miss at some points and completely not there for others. If you go in to the movie looking for historical correctness you might be disappointed, but if you go in for an entertainment you will find it.
Overall, I believe that The Greatest Showman is a tremendous family film that I would recommend to anyone looking for an easy watch and a good time. I bought what P.T Barnum was selling because like he said:
"The noblest art is that of making others happy"
- P.T. Barnum
What's your favorite song from The Greatest Showman? Let me know in the comments!
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