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| Chicago |
| Genre |
Musical |
| Starring |
Richard Gere and Catherine Zeta Jones |
| Director |
Gary Marshall |
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“Chicago, directed by Rob Marshall, is a sexy, fast-paced film that is easily the best musical of the modern era.
I admit coming into this film, I was skeptical. I mean, come on, it was a musical with Richard Gere. A man responsible for numerous cinematic horrors such as “Run Away Bride” and “Autumn in New York.”
And, for me, the genre of the musical brings to mind the painful memories of Clint Eastwood and Lee Marvin peacefully singing instead of trying to shoot each other. Or the infamous “West Side Story” knife fight between the Jets and the “tougher” Sharks. It’s always a little weird when people break into song for absolutely no reason.
However, the film did receive 13 Oscar Nominations, (which ties for second most nominations of all time). John C. Reilly (Gangs Of New York” and “The Hours), Queen Latifah (“Set It Off”), Renee Zellweger (“The Diary of Bridget Jones”), and Catherine Zeta Jones (“Entrapment”) all are up for some kind of Oscar.
Roxie Hart (Zellweger), who dreams of being a vaudeville star, shoots her furniture-salesman lover when she learns he has been lying to her about his show biz connections so he could use her for sex. She goes to prison, where she meets her idol, Velma Kelly (Catherine Zeta-Jones), an uber-diva headliner now making headlines for pumping lead into her husband and her sister when she found them getting it on. The pair become rivals, competing for the attention of the clamoring, soulless press and their mutual lawyer, a flamboyant slickster named Billy Flynn (Richard Gere).
The genius of the film is that Gary Marshall and company recast the musical numbers as imaginary productions from the slightly unhinged imagination of Roxie. Marshall relentlessly cuts back and forth in the middle of a number, between realistic settings and a nightclub where the same figures are viewed on stage.
The three main stars have done a superb job training themselves to sing and dance. Zeta-Jones looks absolutely smoldering and belts out her numbers like a seasoned Broadway pro. Zellweger sells her songs with her kewpie-doll looks and Betty Boop voice. Gere even tap-dances.
Queen Latifah is dead-on as a manipulative prison matron who shakes her stuff in the jazzy "When You're Good to Mama." The accomplished character actor, John C. Reilly, is effectively pathetic as Roxie's poor schmuck of a husband when he sings "Mr. Cellophane," a little ditty about what a loser he is.
Virtually every one of the songs is full of cynical glee, and the performers dive headfirst into the numbers. Whether it's the superb press-conference production number, with Roxie as a ventriloquist's dummy seated on Billy's lap and the reporters as puppets on strings or the spectacular “Cell Block Tango,” a muscular dance number in which five notorious femme fatales reenact the scenarios that made them off their lovers.
"Chicago" continues the reinvention of the musical that started last year with "Moulin Rouge." Although modern audiences may not like to see stories interrupted by songs, they do seem to like songs interrupted by stories. And this movie is a dazzling song and dance extravaganza, with just enough words to support the music and allow everyone to recover between songs.
“Chicago” may not have much more than a somewhat shallow and vapid message, but that hardly prevents it from being a rousing, robust, and extremely sexy film. It takes the adaptation of a Broadway play and does as much with it as it possibly could. This is the most important criteria for which a film should be judged.
BOTTOM LINE: A sexy, glitzy film that’s a lot of fun to watch. The likely best picture winner. Solid A. |
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| "We use words like honor, code, loyalty. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom I provide, then question the manner in which I provide it." |
- Jack Nicholson
A Few Good Men
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Distributed Beers
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| 5 |
Sierra Nevada Bigfoot |
| 4 |
Guinness Draught |
| 3 |
Newcastle Brown Ale |
| 2 |
Bass Pale Ale |
| 1 |
Samuel Adams Boston Lager |
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