I heard people complain that this movie exploits P. T. Barnum, who exploited disabled people and people of color. So of course I had to see it.
Before the movie, Hugh Jackman and Michael Gracey thanked us because the movie is supposed to be seen on a big screen with a large audience. That's why they released it the same time as Star Wars.
To my surprise , the theater made a mistake and accidentally ran the exclusive, 3-hour, uncut, R rated version of The Greatest Showman, featuring songs not even on the official soundtrack.
The actual story is a mess, so I'll just talk about the songs.
All the songs start out subdued and build into a climactic 11th hour number with incredibly cinematography and no real context. I was kind of hoping that the songs would reflect the circus style, but that would be Some of them start out with a sound in the environment providing the beat, a la The Music Man. And the songs feel incredibly long, despite averaging three to five minutes, and feel like a way to skip over tricky sections of Barnum's life.
"The Greatest Show"- The first number is P.T. Barnum as a grown man standing in the ring singing about how great his show is. This nicely sets the tone for the rest of the songs: trying to convince the audience that the movie is more dramatic than it actually is. The song starts with the freaks making "ooh" sounds, then Barnum starts what sounds like a patter sounds. Then it jumps to a climactic final, with the freaks doing an act. For the rest of the song. It sounds like it should be the finale of the movie. Spoiler: it is reprised for the finale.
"A Million Dreams"- This actually had a nice melody. It also is the CliffNotes from Barnum's early years. I thought it was just a throwaway song about Charity and Barnum's childhood friendship because the lyrics were so generic. But it keep going for four minutes and halfway through jumps from childhood to adulthood until they are married. Throughout, we see some disabled people helping Barnum, which later inspires him to exploit them. I think this is one of the best songs, but the bar is extremely low.
"A Million Dreams (reprise)"- I didn't think that this was a reprise when I watched the movie because it comes right after the original and is one minute long. His daughter sings it on the rooftop after he loses his job.
"The Opening Act"- This is the most controversial song in the uncut version, and, like all songs, has a slow starts that builds to a climax. A dying Joyce Heath sings "You can prove you're not a hack/This was just your Opening Act" She dies and Barnum sings "She was just my Opening Act" Then the movie cuts to her autopsy and the incisions form the beat of the song. The lyrics aren't that good. I think it relies on the double meaning of "opening" too heavily. This is probably the reason the uncut version got an R rating. The gore was just as over-the-(big)top as everything else in the movie.
"The Other Side"- this starts out really promising. Barnum and Phillip Carlyle , a completely fictional character, are at a bar. Barnum convinces him to join the circus, with "The Other Side" referring to more low-brow performances that Carlyle's more prestigious plays. The beat starts with slamming drinks on the counter and the song starts like a natural conversation and is one of the only songs that feels specific to the plot.Then they get up and do acrobatics across the bar. There wasn't enough circus stuff in the movie, I guess. Probably my favorite song on the movie just for the first part.
"A Minstrel Ballet"- The choice to have the minstrel show as a ballet was inspired because it reflects the silencing of black voices. Unfortunately, the song is yet another generic pop song instead of something reflective of the content.
"Never Enough"- Okay, this song annoyed me. Barnum goes to England and sees a performance by opera-singer Jenny Lind. So she gets up on the opera stage, and sings a generic pop song that honestly could have been exchanged for any other song in this movie. It's somewhat ironic that the song is complaining that something can never be enough when the movie isn't giving the audience anything of substance.
"I'm Just Me"- This is the big one. The one that is in all the marketing and summarizes the themes of the movie. She freaks think that they will are invited to a royal party in England, but get shut out. So the bearded lady starts to sing some message about being herself and they crash the party. It builds into a climactic moment in the circus ring and I just got confused as to which songs weren't diagetic. That's the problem with a circus musical. And I'm just wondering, is the first part non-diagetic and the second diagetic,
"Come Alive (reprise)"- a brutal song about the freaks being abused and realizing that they aren't getting the life Barnum promised. This is a stark contrast to the message of "I'm Just Me" The tone is just as upbeat as the other songs but the visuals of physical abuse makes it powerful.
"Rewrite The Stars"- The "Re-" syllable is painful. Thank you, Zac Effron. This is an attempt at a B love story right when you want the movie to be over. Carlyle is in a forbidden interracial relationship with Anne Wheeler, a fictional trapeze artist played by Disney Channel favorite Zendaya Coleman. So the B love story is between two fictional characters. Great. You can tell that this is supposed to be one of the "big" songs, but it is just as ridiculous as all the other songs. Anne Wheeler takes Carlyle up on the trapeze without any training or safety equipment,
"Tightrope"- the movie is fairly long and aimless. As it approached the end, I just wanted everything to wrap up quickly. Instead, Barnum's wife, who was not in the movie since the beginning, sings a long song about how her life is like "walking a tightrope." The movie already struggles to make us care about the main characters, so why should we care about his wife? Also using tightrope as a metaphor isn't clever. At all. This is one of the better songs because it is one of the most subdued songs, despite not being subdued at all.
"Never Enough (reprise)"- Jenny Lind breaks it off with Barnum after a completely fictionalized affair, I'm still upset that this isn't an opera song.
"From Now On"- After the circus burns down, Barnum goes to the bar. The freaks go in to comfort him and he has and epiphany. I have no idea what the epiphany is. Something about not doing it for the fame and money, despite doing everything to pay back the loan. Bizarre.
"Slaves No More"- A beautifully ironic song in which Barnum sings about his opposition to slavery to the freaks, whom he treats as slaves. I am upset that this song is only in the uncut version, as it really ties the entire movie together.
"The Greatest Show (reprise)"- We go back to the opening to emphasize that Barnum learned nothing throughout this entire movie.
The uncut R-rated version of The Greatest Showman (2017) is worth seeing. For some reason, however, I can't find anything about it. Maybe I just had an amazing fluke and none of the other five people in the theater told anybody online.
I imagine that the theatrically released version is just a vapid glamorization of abuse and exploitation.
A perfect representation of the circus!
I'm relieved that nobody put this music to the Pennywise dancing scene. Yet.
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