P.T. Barnum (Hugh Jackman) came from humble backgrounds, the orphaned son of a tailor who always wanted bigger things. His wife, Charity (the underused and utilized Michelle Williams, better than the underwritten part) came from wealth, but gave that all up to marry him and has no regrets even though she needs to wash her own sheets now. P.T. wanted to give her more, but she doesn't need more, she just needs him. Still, he somehow gets a bank loan and buys a museum full of obscure things, just as he likes as he is always talking about crazy adventures.
It is actually his young daughters, Caroline and Helen (Austyn Johnson and Cameron Seely) give him the idea for his museum to have living things. Which gives him the idea to have people who are different from everyone else, such as a bearded lady and a midget. And African Americans all of whom have talent.
Naturally, the show has its haters and lots of them, protesters grow by the day, but the crowds love it so the show, dubbed by one critic, a circus is quite popular. So popular that it allows P.T. to give his wife the lifestyle he always wanted to provide her. And then Zac Efron enters the scene.
Now, while I like him and he did a great job in a fairly different role from all of those lame comedies he's been doing as of late, he isn't necessary really for the main plot. He is a playwright and loved by society and comes from money. He is soon in the business with P.T. and develops a large crush on the acrobat, Anne (Zendaya), who to the scandal of society is African American.
It is on a trip to visit Queen Victoria (Gayle Rankin) that he meets the immensely talented Jenny Lind (Rebecca Ferguson) that he becomes legit and truly lets the fame go to his head. Though he doesn't cheat on his wife, he is completely besotted with her and dismisses his main cast to soak Jenny's fame in. Though he gave the minorities an opportunity to shine, once he became wealthy, he became no better than them.
And then everything goes up in smoke, literally. Philip Carlyle (Efron) is left in charge with P.T. on the road with Jenny and the protesters get into a fight with the cast and the building is burned. Charity leaves P.T. though he does win her back too easily. And, after Philip heals from his wounds, the show reopens, thanks to Philip's prudent thinking. This time, it reopens in a tent and P.T. hangs up his hat tossing it literally to Philip, the new ringmaster so he can watch his girls grow up. But the show goes on.
Now, again, the songs are excellent and talent is immense, with the bearded lady, Letty (Keala Settle), killing it every time she sings, the film had too much plot and too many characters crammed in around the songs, which are really the highlight of the film and make the film worth watching. Even the critic said it best, it is nice to see minorities and different people being treated as equals. I just wish it was that way in real life. Everyone being the same would make this world a boring place. At least this film wasn't boring, but it should have been better.
I did appreciate the message at the beginning, from the director and Jackman, as films should be experienced in the theater, on the big screen with a real audience and at the end, some did clap. I just wish this film had inspired me to the do the same. Instead, it was just a pretty picture that needed to get beneath the surface and show some genuine emotion and make me feel something. Grade: B
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