Circus Musical

The origin story of “The Greatest Show on Earth” is told through contemporary pop-infused song and dance numbers in ‘The Greatest Showman’ starring Hugh Jackman as P.T. Barnum as well as other colorful characters played by Zac Efron, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson and Michelle Williams.  While Jackman perhaps will never shake his image as the rough-and-tumble and ruggedly handsome Aussie actor who portrayed the badass mutant Wolverine in the 'X-Men' and 'Wolverine' franchises, he’s also an accomplished Broadway star and acting/singing/dancing “triple-threat” who starred in the 2012 remake of ‘Les Misérables’ and won a Tony Award in 2004 for his role in ‘The Boy from Oz.’

 

TGS tells the rags-to-riches story of Phineas Taylor Barnum through his life and various struggles to create a new form of entertainment accessible to everyone (i.e. the “common-folk”) at a time when such diversion was the sole domain of the upper-class bourgeoisie.  Born a “penniless urchin” in the Dickensian tradition, P.T. dared to dream big and strived to reach them in the spirit of a true American entrepreneur.  Even when he finally realized his success, his brand of sensational “low brow” entertainment featuring freaks and animals was looked down upon by elite society and maligned by critics until he was able to slowly earn a measure of respectability and acceptance for it.  Far from denigrating the freaks and outcasts starring in his shows, he gave them a chance to fit in society and make a living at it (okay, he did “exploit” them a little bit as a businessman too).

 

While TGS is without question an entertaining, fluffy and light musical that can be enjoyed by the whole family (it’s rated PG, a rarity these days), it’s also hampered by a certain shallow artificiality that cannot be denied.  Whatever heart and soul TGS had are somehow overshadowed by all the aural pop and visual pizzazz.  Or maybe it had something to do with the movie’s modern pop sensibility and the fact that, while all the songs in the film are pleasant enough “in the moment,” they are as soon forgotten when we walk out of the theater.

 

Grade: B