Harry Situation Reviews: The Greatest Showman

The circus is in town.

The Greatest Showman is the newest musical film based on the formation of the famous Barnum and Bailey Circus, which as been on show for the last 146 years until its closure last year. The film stars Hugh Jackman as founder P.T. Barnum, Zac Efron as Barnum's business partner Philip Carlyle, Michelle Williams as Barnum's wife Charity, and Zendaya (MJ from Spider-Man: Homecoming) as one of the circus performers named Ann Wheeler.

I don't know much about the history behind the Barnum and Bailey Circus, so I can't really tell you if this film does an accurate portrayal of it. But that's not really the point of it, is it? The point is to show audiences a fun movie for all audiences to enjoy. And it worked.

So the first positive for the movie is that it is set up as a musical, which is really nice to see those making a comeback these days. The songs were done by the fellas who also did La La Land (which I have not seen yet but will one day). These songs have a great rhythem and melody and I really liked listening to them. The ones that stuck out most to me—as well as my favorites from the whole film—are The Greatest Show, This is Me, and Rewrite the Stars. I actually downloaded them to my playlist because I really enjoyed listening to those songs.

Additionally, the performances were done very well. Hugh Jackman truly shines in this film. I sometimes forget that he first started off in musicals before obtaining adamantium claws. He's an incredible singer. Zac Efron was also good too. And it was great to see him and Jackman do a duet together. It was almost like Jackman was telling Efron, "Hey High School Musical, this is how it's done."

But what really makes the film soar is how it humanized Barnum's performers and sideshow attractions. You see folks like the bearded lady, the tallest man, the fatest man, you get the picture. But the film shows that they are people too. Just because they're different doesn't mean they should be treated less.

Even Barnum himself was made very human. He portrayed as this perfect gentleman. No, there were moments were he got sleazy and he disregarded other people's wants and feelings just to get the spotlight. I mean what could you expect? This was the same guy that once said, "A sucker is born every minute."

Unfortunately where this film really falters is how predictable the film was. It really is the same story you heard a million times. Someone has a dream, they start to build that dream, it makes them famous, person starts being a dick, then there's controversy, and in the end the person realizes that everything he truly wanted was right in front of him. I don't think I'm spoiling anything because, like I said, you've heard this story a million times before.

Sure you can make an argument about every other film but at least there was something different that make them stand out. This one didn't offer much and I felt that it got dull in certain moments.

In the end, it may not be the greatest show but it's still a fun watch. If you want to see something fun, you'll get that here. Be sure to pick up some peanuts along the way and enjoy the show.

Positives:

-Great songs

-Good performances

-Humanizes characters

Negatives:

-Way too predictable

-Dulled in certain areas

Final Grade: C+

So that's my review of The Greatest Showman, yet another film that came out last month that I suddenly started to watch this month. Have you seen it? What were your thoughts? Please be kind, leave a like and comment, and check out more reviews here on Prose.

Best Quote:

P.T. Barnum: "No one ever made a difference by being like everyone else."

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