According to critics,The Greatest Showmanlives up to its subject, P.T.
Barnum, but that’s not necessarily a good thing.
It’s not necessarily a bad thing, either.
Credit: Twentieth Century Fox
If not, it’ll be a slog.
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immersion in up-to-the-minute razzmatazz.
It takes the life of P.T.
How piously anachronistic is that?
Barnum is all smoke and mirrors, no substance.
It hammers pedestrian themes of family, friendship and inclusivity while neglecting the fundaments of character and story.
Or more accurately, think teaser to the trailer to the movie.
Stephanie Merry (The Washington Post)
“Will you buy any of this?
The song-and-dance numbers are clearly meant to wow, but technology drains away some of their awesomeness.
‘Does it bother you that everything you’re selling is fake?’
Barnum is asked, at one point, by his nemesis (a newspaper critic, naturally).
It’s hard not to apply the question to the film itself.
Always quick with a comeback, Barnum retorts, ‘Do the smiles seem fake?’
He makes a good point, and it’s almost enough to give the movie a pass.
(What’s that you say about Barnum being a teetotaler?
Give it up already.)”
An amusement park version of P.T.
In other words, this bonkers delight is so in love with its own bullshit that P.T.
Barnum would be thrilled to lend it his name."
Which isn’t to say the movie is good.
It isn’t, really.The Greatest Showmanabout P.T.
Still, it’s by no means a total wash."
The Greatest Showmanis now playing in theaters.
