I am absolutely behind on this craze since this movie came out in December, but after I finally got around to watching it, it was amazing and is definitely worth all the hype. I heard about it from one of my friends and I had also heard one of the songs.
When I found out Zac Efron and Zendaya were in it I knew I had to see it as soon as possible. I had a week break off from college so I knew it would be the perfect time to go. So I asked my mom if she wanted to come too and she dragged my dad along and the three of us went.
The day we went it was really snowy so we figured we would be some of the only people there, and we were right. We were in the theater alone until about five minutes until the movie started. When the first note of the first song played my attention was caught. As the movie progressed, my attention was never lost during the entire 105 minutes. The basic storyline of someone coming from having nothing to having a lot may have been the basis of this movie, but it was so much more than that.
To summarize, P.T. Barnum is a young, poor boy who develops a crush on a wealthy girl. They part ways but end up together again in adulthood and get married. They have two daughters and start to realize they are not making enough money after P.T. gets loses his job. He realizes that he needs to do something about it to support his family so he gets loans and decides to buy a wax museum.
This wax museum doesn't get much business, so he decides he has to do something more. He puts adds out for people that are different with some sort of unique talent or characteristic and that is how his new show is formed. It is not popular at first, but little does he know it will take off. ends up renaming it a circus after a tough critic calls it that in his review. Long story short, the success gets to P.T.'s head and he ends up going on a tour with a very talented opera singer, he moves his focus from the extraordinary circus he first created.
This leaves all his acts feeling betrayed and things seem to start falling apart for Barnum. Now it's a matter of if realizing what is more important fame and fortune or the joy of entertaining others.
Not only is the acting in this movie incredible, the songs will be stuck in your head for days. They are beautifully sung and are very catchy. As soon as I got in the car after the movie I downloaded the album on Spotify and I listen to at least one song daily. My favorites would be "Rewrite the Stars" and "The Other Side." Overall, if you enjoy underdogs rising, love and music this is a must see for you. Now for me, "The Greatest Showman" may just be in the top 5 favorite movies (and maybe even number 1 I'll have to see it again soon to know for sure).
