The younger actors gave fine performances as well, with Samantha Barks demonstrating the most potential and Eddie Redmayne surprisingly delivering the final gut-wrenching number, "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables." The thematic exploration of the rise and fall of idealism makes this sequence especially poignant. Russell Crowe, while certainly no vocal powerhouse, did a fine job as Javert, although I found his final number to be oddly anti-climactic. Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen provided some much appreciated comic relief, but their antics seemed oddly out of place in this film at times, and often left me feeling as though I were watching Sweeney Todd again. While the remainder of the film was certainly entertaining, it felt both less emotionally involving and less taut than the beginning. It seemed curious to me that the bleakest moments of the film (at least for me) came at the beginning, which made it impossible for the film to regain that same sense of gravitas as the story progressed. Here we are introduced to the major theme of forgiveness for the first time, through Fantine we tap into maternal bonds as well as disillusionment, and Valjean's struggles explore the conflict between not only public and private selves but also reconciling our own personal interests with what is morally correct. Thematically, the film also shines in this section. Both Hathaway and Jackman also deliver top-notch performances, and it's hard to imagine anyone else fitting the role of Valjean as well as Jackman. I can only speculate but, compared to the stage version, being able to take in every facial nuance in the film version seems to make the moments of crescendo and soaring strings pack so much more of an emotional punch.
Two of the three (in my opinion) gut-wrenching musical numbers come in this section- Anne Hathaway's "I Dreamed a Dream" (which, if I recall correctly, was filmed largely in a single take) and Hugh Jackman's "Who Am I?". I felt the first thirty minutes or so were the strongest of the entire film, plunging us into the despair and conflicts of various characters with adroit narrative thrust so that not a moment feels wasted or redundant. After experiencing the film earlier today, I can say it was a tremendous experience. Having never seen the stage version of Les Miserables and having read limited reviews of the film, I honestly didn't know what to expect from Tom Hooper's Les Miserables.