Photo: 20th Century Fox Film
Movie Review by Rev. Bruce Batchelor-Glader
Never judge a musical by its title or its opening number. The Greatest Showman was certainly not P. T. Barnum (Hugh Jackman), who was more of a huckster in real life than the man depicted onscreen. The first song is rather underwhelming, featuring a rap from Hugh Jackman, but the music improves as the film goes on.
The film leaves the circus spectacle seen in the opening number, flashing back to the story of Barnum’s life, his romance and marriage to his wife Charity (Michelle Williams), his dreams and promises of wonders to their two daughters, and the eventual creation of his Museum of Oddities, a fancy “freak show” in which he brings together a family of society’s misfits.
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