Chicago (2002)

[K1stpierre]

Discuss

[Goffe]

Good sound mixing, one or two good musical numbers and Zeta-Jones charisma are the only redeeming features. 45/100

It's mind blowing how many Oscar nominations (and wins) it got. 

Edited February 18, 2015 by Goffe

[braeden]

On February 17, 2015 at 7:48 PM, Goffe said:

Good sound mixing, one or two good musical numbers and Zeta-Jones charisma are the only redeeming features. 45/100

It's mind blowing how many Oscar nominations (and wins) it got. 

WRONG!

[Amadeus]

Poor sound mixing. After 9/11 everything was all that jazz to the academy and this very false and Moulin-inspired piece of slapstick is not even worth half a night with megan fox. 

[Webslinger]

So, I saw this one on the big screen today (a theatre near me is doing a series of musicals in July; West Side Story was on last week, and The Sound of Music is on next week). I missed it during its original theatrical run thirteen years ago (13 already?) and hadn't seen it in close to six years. Scattered thoughts, reminisces, etc. follow:

 

- As far as adaptations of pre-existing musicals are concerned, I'm going to have to go along with the consensus from the critics, box office receipts, and Oscars and say that it's the best of the twenty-first century thus far. I think a ton of the credit for putting it above the likes of other really good adaptations (e.g. Dreamgirls, Sweeney Todd, Hairspray, Les Miz) is Bill Condon's screenwriting. He grounds the flashy showmanship of the musical numbers with a keen eye for the satirical themes at the heart of the story. Given that this film is head and shoulders above everything Rob Marshall has directed since, I'm guessing that he got more than a fair bit of help from Condon.

 

- Renee Zellweger and Catherine Zeta-Jones killed it. I wish that their respective post-Oscar careers had been better because they're at their peaks here. I'm still convinced that her performance here accounts for at least one-third of Zellweger's Oscar win for Cold Mountain the following year.

 

- As far as the film's other two Oscar nominations go, I still really like John C. Reilly's work here (as always, he's a terrific character actor who knows exactly what to bring to the performance, and he's alternately hilarious and quietly heartbreaking as the dimwitted cuckold), but I'm still at a loss to figure out how Queen Latifah scored a nomination. I guess voters must have really enjoyed that "When You're Good to Mama" number; otherwise, the performance is good, but not remarkable.

 

- I feel like so many people got so caught up in the film's slick aesthetic that they missed the very bitter cynicism at the heart of the film. The honest characters don't get what they want (Amos learns that his beloved wife slept with another man and then duped him in a gambit to get out of execution, and the innocent Hungarian woman dies because she lacks the language skills and conventional beauty standards of '20s American women that could have made the public as sympathetic to her as they were to women who actually did commit the murders of which they were accused), and numerous corrupt characters get away with their wicked ways because they know how to play the public just right.

 

- The musical numbers are absolutely showstoppers. "Cell Block Tango" remains as eye-popping now as it was then.

 

- If there's any gripe I have with the film (and it's a small one), it's with the editing of several of the musical numbers. I get that musicals of the early 2000s needed to take on more contemporary editing techniques in order to appeal to audiences that hadn't embraced screen musicals in quite some time, but it's mildly irritating to see so many quick cuts that make the intricate choreography of the dancing more difficult to fully appreciate.

 

A

[filmlover]

One of my favorites. The "All That Jazz" opening number is one of the best opening scenes to any movie ever.

[La Binoche]

It's good but it's no Moulin Rouge.