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Chicago (2002)
I hate musicals. I go to the movies hoping to see a good story. Musicals are thus an irritation to me as they incessantly bring the plot to a screeching halt for a song and dance number. Blech. Last year I was one of the few critics who not only didn't recommend Moulin Rouge but actively urged people to run screaming away from it. I really don't like musicals. That brings us to Chicago. I was dreading this one. Do I really have to suffer through a musical annually? Isn't once a decade a bit fairer? After all my grousing, you can imagine my surprise at having thoroughly enjoyed the film.
Chicago was designed with me in mind. Now my ego isn't so inflated as to suggest that I believed that Rob Marshal filmed this specifically with me in mind. I'd be surprised if he even knew I existed. No, what I mean is that this film was designed to placate peole, who like me, get annoyed at the songs interrupting the story. This film takes the unusual step of setting virtually all of the song and dance numbers in the vivid imagination of the main character, Roxie Hart (Renee Zellwegger). By doing that, the songs now become integral to the story. It avoids the awkward stopping and starting of other musicals, organizing everything to flow naturally. The songs are now an enhancement to the story instead of a speed bump.
Roxie is a young married dreamer who wants nothing more than to perform on stage. Unfortunately she ends up killing the man she is having an affair with and lands in jail next to her idol Velma (Catherine Zeta-Jones). The rest of the story follows her journey to trial as she and her lawyer Billy Flynne (Richard Gere) manipulate the press to help her trial. It is a story of the fickle and fleeting nature of fame and the desperate lengths some wiil go in pursuit of it. The story is simple certainly but the picture pursues it with such lust and energy that it almost seems to expand into something grander.
Marshall cast a combination of actors, some with and some without singing and dancing experience. Renee Zellwegger had no experience but she performs admirably none the less. Certainly she doesn't show the talent or polish of Catherine Zeta-Jones, a former dancer, but then again her character is also supposed to be less talented so it works out nicely. What Zellwegger does deliver is a wonderful performance as the conniving and aggressively ambities Roxie. Despite the character having such a hard edge, Zellwegger manages to make her sympathetic as well, someone to root for, even if you can't justify her methods. Zeta-Jones has a far more simplistic character but she makes up for it with acres of presence and charisma. Queen Latifah was a bit of inspired casting for the part of Momma. She is thoroughly believable and still has the musical talent to give a rousing performance. Richard Gere delivers a more energetic and likable performance than we've seen from him in a long time.
The performances are great and they drive the story but the director and his crew deserve a lot of credit for giving the film a great sense of style and energy that doesn't emanate from the actors. I was hooked mere seconds into the film as the club is lit by this intense violet light that highlights smoke floating about, giving it a life and energy all its own. That sort of imagery is everywhere in the film, making it so that your eyes and ears never have to look far for something fascinating. Such great visuals without the heavy use of special effects is rare these days and deserving of praise.
So now the great hater of musicals will sink back into his lair, having been forced to expand the list of acceptable musicals ever so slightly. I don't take back my derision for the genre but I will at least admit that not all of them are torture to watch. A select few are quite magical and Chicago is definitely one of them.
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