Chicago – movie review

Okay, so, I checked out Chicago from the library this week on DVD. I’d never seen it before, on stage or in this critically acclaimed movie. I have to say that I am disappointed. I didn’t have high expectations for it, but … now I have to wonder about all the people who thought it was great.

It isn’t great.

Good, maybe, if you like that sort of thing, but … I don’t know, the whole thing was just ….

Here’s perhaps the best way I can put it: Less than an hour in, I wanted to just turn it off.

I thought perhaps there must be some wonderful, redeeming end, and I stuck it out, but … even that was disappointing.

Yes, celebrities singing and dancing is something … but I didn’t care about the characters (save one, but more on that in a moment), or the outcome, and most of the time I felt that their breaking into song and dance (and flashy costumes) didn’t fit particularly well with the story. Nearly the entire thing was just the sort of empty “razzle-dazzle” that was so clearly painted as being there to distract the audience from the fact that there’s no talent or real content beyond the “glitter and feathers” of the production. I guess that’s it, though; if you tell someone you’re cheating them, at least you’re honest, and they’ll let you get away with it.

Well, I won’t. Chicago … I may be able to appreciate it … some other time, but on first impressions, it’s … empty. “Good” but not “great”, and in my opinion not the best casting.

Except…

Except in two key roles: John C. Reily created the only character I cared about in the entire piece, and his song and dance number, while still out of sync with the story, was one of the most meaningful. Richard Geere was excellently cast, and excellently played.

The rest of the major characters were … adequate at best. (Lucy Liu and Taye Diggs shined, though were not given the chance to do more than play their small roles excellently.)

And that’s what I have to say about that, for now.

Published by

Teel

Author, artist, romantic, insomniac, exorcist, creative visionary, lover, and all-around-crazy-person.

Leave a Reply