Restraint is admirable in filmmaking, especially when you consider all the overwrought, formulaic action pictures Hollywood's been churning out lately. However, sometimes there are stories that practically beg to be played melodramatically but aren't.
Such is the case with "Les Miserables," a surprisingly low-key (if that word can be applied to a period costume drama) but rather faithful version of Victor Hugo's classic novel. (A warning to fans of the long-running London musical: This straightforward drama is definitely based on the original source material, not the stage production, and therefore features no musical numbers.)
Rather than play things out on a grand, sweeping scale, director Bille August ("Smilla's Sense of Snow") has chosen to stage the film in a more downbeat manner, resulting in some emotionally muted scenes that rob the movie of some of its needed power.
Still, it's a rich looking production, which benefits greatly from having two Academy Award winners in the cast: Liam Neeson ("Schindler's List") and Geoffrey Rush ("Shine"), who play literature's great "Tom & Jerry" characters, Jean Valjean and Inspector Javert, respectively.
The story unfolds episodically, beginning with Valjean's parole from prison, where he served nearly 20 years for stealing food. Rather than report to his parole officer and live in abject poverty, he steals from a priest, who surprisingly offers to aid him and who makes Valjean promise to become a better man.
Flash forward nine years, as we see the reinvented Valjean, now the mayor of a small village as well as a kind-hearted businessman. Proving you can't run away from your past, one of his former jailers, Javert, resurfaces as the town's new police inspector.
He almost instantly recognizes Valjean, though he can't prove the allegation. In the meantime, Valjean has begun taking care of Fantine (Uma Thurman), a dying prostitute who makes him promise to take care of her young daughter, Cosette. Eventually, Javert does get the evidence to justify his claims, but by then Valjean has already whisked Cosette away to Paris.
Ten years later, Valjean and Cosette (Claire Danes) turn up in a Parisian convent, where he is posing as a gardener and she is studying to become a nun. But she also longs to see the world, so the two leave the confines to live as father and daughter in the city. There, Cosette becomes romantically involved with Marius (Hans Matheson), a young revolutionary who is being trailed by, you guessed it, Javert.
It would be interesting to see a "director's cut" of the film, because you get the feeling that studio-mandated cuts that were made to get the running time closer to two hours have taken their toll (as much as an hour has been trimmed, according to some reports). As a result, the movie feels a little disjointed on whole, with some scenes unfolding much too quickly (in particular Marius and Cosette's courtship).
But thankfully, August and screenwriter Rafael Yglesias ("Death and the Maiden") leave the novel's thrilling conclusion pretty much intact (unlike the awful updated version of "Great Expectations").
Also, they wisely paint the characters in shades of gray. Though he is shown as being loving, Valjean still has a cruel side. And Javert isn't portrayed as villainous, just obsessed and very by-the-book. Of course, it helps that the perfectly cast Neeson and Rush are playing them. Neeson is quietly powerful, while as Javert, Rush seems tortured by his unsuccessful hunt.
Both women also turn in fine performances, especially the deglamorized Thurman. But you have to wonder why August has most of the cast use British accents (including Danes, who falters in places) when the story is set in France.
"Les Miserables" is rated PG-13 for wartime violence and some fist fighting, brief gore, brief partial female nudity, scattered profanities and one vulgar reference.