About this episode

The episode discusses the 1998 film adaptation of Les Miserables, its shortcomings, and the careers of its stars.

We’re back after our May Miniseries and it’s Tonys week! Rather than a musical, we’re talking about a movie that disappointed in part because it wasn’t a big screen version of the Broadway smash… In 1998, director Bille August brought a condensed version of Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables to the screen. With Liam Neeson headlining as the legendary man imprisoned for stealing a loaf of bread, Jean Valjean, the film is a hyper focused version of Hugo’s sprawl that is nevertheless a droning bore. This episode, we talk about August’s two Palme d’Or wins and what this story loses by focusing so closely on only the Valjean/Javert storyline. We also talk about Neeson’s period between his sole Oscar nomination and becoming an action star, Geoffrey Rush cementing his typecast here, and Uma Thurman back-to-back misfires in Batman and Robin and The Avengers. Topics also include this year’s Cannes, Shine as forgotten Oscar winner, and Claire Danes backbackback again.

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