The Phantom of the Opera

 The Phantom of the Opera 2004

• Director: Joel Schumacher
• Seen by this director: Veronica Guerin, Flawless, A Time to Kill, The Client
• Based on the book by Gaston Leroux
• Cast: Emmy Rossum, Gerard Butler, Patrick Wilson, Miranda Richardson, Minnie Driver, Ciarán Hinds, Simon Callow, Murray Melvin, Paul Brooke
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Emmy Rossum – Beautiful Creatures, Day After Tomorrow, Mystic River
• Gerard Butler - Coriolanus, Dear Frankie, Tomorrow Never Dies, Mrs Brown
• Miranda Richardson - Testament of Youth, Harry Potter etc, Made in Dagenham, The Young Victoria, Paris je t’aime, Gideon’s Daughter, Wah-Wah, The Hours, Get Carter, Sleepy Hollow, The Crying Game, Enchanted April, Black Adder, Dance with a Stranger
• Minnie Driver - I Give It a Year, Ella Enchanted, Return to Me, Good Will Hunting, Grosse Pointe Blank, Circle of Friends
• Ciarán Hinds - First Man, The Woman in Black, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Harry Potter, Life During Wartime, Margot at the Wedding, Hallam Foe, Amazing Grace, Calendar Girls, Veronica Guerin, Road to Perdition, Titanic Town, Cold Lazarus, Mary Reilly, Circle of Friends, Seaforth
• Simon Callow - Victoria and Abdul, Doctor Who, Bright Young Things, Shakespeare in Love, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Postcards from the Edge, A Room with a View, Amadeus
• Murray Melvin - The Devils, Alfie, A Taste of Honey
• Paul Brooke - Alfie, Bridget Jones’s Diary
• Why? I want to like it more than the first time
• Seen: Once before. Now 7 August 2022      

       This is such a classic, and the title song is so good that I was disappointed the first time I saw the film (I’ve not seen it on stage). But musicals sometimes need to be seen several times. I won’t tell you the story. If you don’t know it, Google it.

       The problems begin early in the film:

·       The two young lovers (Rossum and Wilson) are tepid at best. Sugar-coated wimps, to be honest.

·       Minnie Driver, Ciarán Hinds and Simon Callow, all good actors, are just silly here.

·       It’s altogether too lavish. I’d like to see it in black and white with minimalist settings.

·       Male domination and violence, female submission – do NOT romanticise this!

·       Much too long. Cut half.

·       Most of the songs are clumsy with boring melodies and inelegant lyrics.

·       Lame story

·       The funny parts aren’t funny.

·       It’s winter and she’s walking along in the snow with her bosom mostly bare. Stupid and sexist.      

       The title song is still good, and the ending is quite dramatic. But nope, it’s not better this time. Is it worth watching a third time?      

2* of 5.