The Greatest Showman (2017)

Some films keep their songs ringing in your ears long after the credits roll. The Greatest Showman is exactly that kind of film. It is loosely based on the story of P.T. Barnum, the showman who launched a circus in nineteenth-century America, but it stakes everything on the energy of music and staging rather than the weight of true history. Lavish ensemble dances and catchy numbers follow one after another without pause, and your chest lifts the whole way through. It is a film that leans on pure exhilaration and emotion over narrative depth, yet that force is so powerful I landed on ★4.0.

What it’s about — A musical fantasy that borrows only a motif from real history

Barnum, the son of a poor tailor, crosses a class divide to marry the woman he loves, but he is seized by a desire to give his family a better life. He gathers the people the world used to point fingers at and brings them onto a stage, creating a show no one has ever seen. The process by which those pushed to the margins of society finally find their place under the lights sits at the heart of the story. The film follows Barnum’s rise, fall, and rise again at a brisk pace. Rather than a biopic, it is closer to a musical fantasy that takes only a motif from his life.

Direction — A stage whose momentum fades when the song stops

Michael Gracey, a seasoned hand in music-video direction, shines in the musical numbers. When a song begins, camera, editing, and choreography lock together as one and pull the audience in instantly. The sense of rhythm that smoothly bridges one number to the next is this film’s greatest virtue. The drama filling the gaps between the dazzling numbers, however, is rather flat. Within the rapid pacing, more than a few moments of conflict and growth are skipped over by song before they can mature. Even so, the energy of color and movement that floods every frame largely papers over those shortcomings.

The way each number is given a distinct color is also striking. The song two men trade like a bargain in a bar builds its rhythm from playful hand movements and the clink of glasses, while the love song that uses aerial acrobatics visualizes infatuation through gravity-defying motion. The structure makes a single song responsible for the entire emotion of a scene, so its limitation is clear: the moment the music stops, the film’s momentum subsides with it. Yet the pull of the moments when the stage comes alive is something few straight dramas could match.

Performance — Hugh Jackman, seemingly born for this role

Hugh Jackman looks born for this role. He handles the singing and dancing, of course, but also deftly renders Barnum’s inner mix of ambition and regret, sturdily holding up the whole film. Zac Efron and Zendaya, as lovers separated by a wall of class, leave an unforgettable impression in a duet built around aerial acrobatics. Michelle Williams warmly inhabits the wife who keeps the home behind the dazzling stage. The anthem of self-worth sung by Keala Settle as one of the troupe is the emotional peak of the film, a single number that alone is reason enough to visit the theater.

What the film says — The pride the marginalized proclaim from the stage

The Greatest Showman is the story of people pushed aside for being different, who stand on a stage and proudly proclaim their own existence. The message, that you should not shrink before the world’s gaze but accept yourself as you are, rings out again and again carried on song. Given how little it engages with the darker sides of the real Barnum, criticism of whitewashing is entirely fair. But this film’s goal is not accurate historical record; it is to convey courage and pride through song. That intention, at least, comes across clearly.

Ratings & reception

By OMDb, the IMDb rating is 7.5. Its Rotten Tomatoes freshness is 56 percent and its Metacritic score is 48, marking a divided critical response. The simplicity of the story and the whitewashing of true history drew criticism, but the audience enthusiasm and the music’s popularity ran hot quite apart from that. The signature song won the Golden Globe for Best Original Song and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song, and the soundtrack was beloved for a long while after release.

Verdict

The Greatest Showman is a film you watch with your heart rather than your head. Start scrutinizing the depth of its drama and the gaps appear, but the moment the music flows, such analysis becomes meaningless. What remains clearly is the pure exhilaration of dazzling stages and soaring songs, along with the warm message that everyone deserves to shine. On a day when your spirits are low, there is no better film to blast at full volume.

Recommended for

• Viewers who love catchy songs and lavish ensemble choreography
• Those who want stirring emotion and a positive message
• Anyone who wants to soak up Hugh Jackman’s charisma to the fullest