I saw it yesterday. It won't be released until the 18th of January in Estonia, but there were some special pre-screenings. I was in a state of complete euphoria when I heard about that!
What can I say? It made me love the musical ten times more, something which I thought was not possible. I see it all in a different light now. And never have I left cinema with such feelings. Definitely the best movie I have ever seen. I went with my family, they knew nothing about the musical, but now they can't wait to see it again ...
I think Crowe absolutely ROCKED his part, and I LOVED Seyfried as well. Cinematography was splendid, as it was in the King's Speech, it was powerful and made the movie a lot more interesting. There was nothing wrong with pace or editing, and I actually liked the second act more than the first, maybe because the music was more enjoyable.
There was one or two moments when the film got boring. Both "drink with me" and "bring him home" gave the feeling "oh, great, another song", as did "Empty chairs..." (although I love this song and Eddie was so great). I think a few people left the cinema during these songs. But soon the film was OK again.
So it wasn't a completely flawless movie, but god, this movie has changed the art of movie-making, and not only musical movies. "Argo" is a flawless movie but I would unhesitatingly throw it to the garbage bin if I had to choose between this and Les Mis.
I just can't get this movie out of my head and it's not about humming the songs ... there was some applause at the end, and estonians are not the ones applauding usually...
The biggest disappointment was estonian translation. They used the translations that was once made for the stage show, where they had to carefully count the syllables. It was HORRIBLE, completely unnatural and at times completely untrue to what thety actually sang. I consider writing a letter to whoever has the authority of changing this ...