Anne Hathaway earns early praise for 'Les Miserables'

Anne Hathaway is being called a sure thing for an Oscar nomination by critics who have seen the movie 'Les Miserables.' Anne Hathaway stars as struggling single mother Fantine.

By Sandy Schaefer,?Screen Rant / November 26, 2012

Anne Hathaway stars as Fantine in 'Les Miserables.'

Laurie Sparham/Universal Pictures/AP

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The Oscar race now officially includes?Les Mis?rables and Zero Dark Thirty ? which shouldn?t come as a huge shock, seeing how the former is an adaptation of producer Cameron Mackintosh?s award-winning Broadway smash from director Tom Hooper (The King?s Speech). Meanwhile, the latter is a drama/thriller about the hunt for Osama bin Laden from Oscar-winning Hurt Locker?screenwriter and director duo, Mark Boal and Kathryn Bigelow.

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Nonetheless, both films had their first public screenings over the Thanksgiving holiday frame and drew unadulterated praise from those in attendance. Read on for our breakdown of what the general consensus is for both titles? so far.

Hooper?s Les Miz has long been regarded as something special, seeing how trailer footage suggests it infuses Mackintosh?s original pop musical with a stripped-down aesthetic that helps ground the flamboyant proceedings (unlike Joel Schumacher?s Phantom of the Opera or Rob Marshall?s Nine, to name a few examples). Moreover, the cast boasts heralded actors with?professional singing experience;?that?s in opposition to some of the recent movie musicals that?ve relied on either name-actor casts (Mamma Mia!) or Broadway veterans (Rent).

Reviews for Les Miz are embargoed for the time being, but Indiewire has rounded up Twitter reactions from several critics and film journalists who were at the first open showing. Here?s a bullet-point summary of the responses:

• Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean could land his first Best Actor Oscar nod.
• Anne Hathaway as Fantine is a shoo-in for an Oscar nomination.
• Eddie Redmayne as Marius turns in a solid supporting performance.
• Russell Crowe takes a ?Jesus Christ Superstar rock-opera? approach that distinguishes Inspector Javert (but may not be to everyone?s taste).
• The film as a whole is a ?tour de force? and ?tearjerker? that seems destined to become a Best Picture nominee.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/hkunfzX5mHs/Anne-Hathaway-earns-early-praise-for-Les-Miserables

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