Utterly Unimpressed, Singin' In The Rain Is A Very "Assembled" Musical.

The Good: Moments of performance, direction and character.
The Bad: The story seems to be designed to service the music, Hard to care about any of the characters.
The Basics: Singin' In The Rain might showcase the many dancing talents of Gene Kelly and Donald O'Connor, but it is little more than a string of interconnected music videos.


Today was one hell of a day. After a weekend when I saw a bunch of new (to me) material, it has taken me until now to write the last of the reviews that backlog created. In many ways, the fact that I am only getting to Singin' In The Rain now is pretty significant. I have been putting off watching Singin' In The Rain for years now. I'm not a big fan of musicals and I had to watch a number of them for my Best Picture Project (available here!). So, when a friend finally compelled my wife and I to watch Singin' In The Rain it, honestly, was something I was not biased toward.

Even so, while I emotionally did not enjoy much of Singin' In The Rain, the reasons for rating it lower than most reviewers are all rational and consistent with my reviewing standards. After having a conversation with a friend about how Gene Kelly and director Stanley Donen revolutionized the way directing and filming dance was done, I appreciated much of what was done in Singin' In The Rain was done. But while I could acknowledge that the director did not cheat the way the director of Footloose (reviewed here!) did, the "classic" did not have nearly as developed a story as the new movie did.

Don Lockwood is an actor in schlocky silent movies, where he is professionally tied to the screeching actress Lina Lamont. With the advent of the talking pictures, the studio is deeply concerned because Lina's voice is likely to scare off viewers. Right around the same time, Don runs into Kathy Selden, an outspoken actress who belittles the type of melodramatic pantomime movies Don is in and he is taken with her honesty. After a series of run-ins, Don becomes enamored with Kathy, especially when she is supportive after the utterly disastrous screening of the first Lockwood and Lamont talkie.

Don comes to believe that the answer to his problems is in Kathy when his best friend Cosmo stumbles upon the solution to Lina's terrible voice. Kathy begins doing all of Lina's dialogue and becomes the voice for Lina in the new musical version of the first Lockwood and Lamont talkie. But when Lina learns of Kathy's involvement, the whole project is jeopardized.

The fundamental problem with Singin' In The Rain is that the movie is built around various pieces of music. The title track inspired the film and appears twice in the movie, but I knew that the song "The Broadway Melody" that is performed was from The Broadway Melody (reviewed here!) and there is a reference to The Ziefeld Follies. The musical choices were familiar before the movie was made and there is the feeling through much of the film that the story is simply serving the musical choices, as opposed to fitting organically into the story. So, for example, the song "Gotta Dance" leads to such an extensive dance number that it pulls the viewer out of the movie (much like a similar number in An American In Paris, reviewed here!).

Despite the lack of sensible story that feels organic, Singin' In The Rain features some pretty wonderful dance from Gene Kelly. He is almost outshone in the character department by Cosmo, who is a likable supporting character. He may fill the traditional role of sidekick, but he has the brains to Lockwood's fame and O'Connor has more charisma in key scenes. Kelly's delivery in some of the exposition scenes is a little dry, but O'Connor is always on with a sparkle in his eyes. Debbie Reynolds is fine, though it was no surprise to me to learn she had no formal singing or dancing training before this role.

Ultimately, any bias I have against musicals is eliminated when I consider good musicals which have a concrete narrative and characters who simply express themselves through song. Singin' In The Rain is nowhere near so cohesive. The story seems to have distinctive segments and those segments are more defined by musical numbers being stuck in than by organic character moments. As such, it makes it easy to not recommend this supposedly iconic musical.

For other musicals, be sure to visit my reviews of:
Chicago
Tangled
Repo! The Genetic Opera

4/10

For other film reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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An American In Paris: Uncomfortably Obvious, Only Moments Outside The Average.

The Good: Decent music, Moments of performance
The Bad: Obvious plot and character development, Melodramatic acting, Print issues, Light on DVD bonus features.
The Basics: Mediocre in every way, save the filming and creativity, An American In Paris is too tough a sell to recommend.


For those who might not follow my reviews, musicals seldom do anything for me. Before I began going through every film that won the Best Picture Oscar, I am fairly certain I had no idea how many musicals had won that coveted award. So, lately, I have been watching a number of movies I am in no way predisposed toward. In fact, my wife despises old musicals such that I had to wait for her to leave for work to take in An American In Paris.

An American In Paris is a fairly typical musical film from the 1950s, filmed in Technicolor, filled with songs and dances and the title says it all. Actually, the film is about more than one American living in Paris after World War II. And while the movie has its moments, it is painfully obvious, even for a musical and there are only a few moments in the movie where the viewer is surprised or engaged. Similarly, there are only a few moments when the director uses the film medium well - in a way that makes the movie more than just a stage play on screen. Unfortunately, one of those moments comes up early in the movie and the viewer is left fairly underwhelmed for the remainder of the film.

Jerry Mulligan is a former soldier who opted to stay in Paris after the war in order to try to become the best possible painter he can. There, he associates with an ornery pianist, Adam, and his singing buddy Henri, and he keeps thralls of French children amused by giving them American bubblegum. One day, the wealthy Milo enters Jerry's life and buys some of his paintings. And while Milo is eager to advance his career and keep him from his prior poverty, Jerry is struck with love at first sight when he lays eyes on Lise.

Lise, though, takes some time to warm up to Jerry, though she does begin to care for him. Lise is Henri's girlfriend and while Milo sponsors Jerry's career, Jerry and Lise fall in love. But when the time comes for Jerry to make his move, Henri is offered a grand opportunity in the U.S., which prompts him to propose to Lise. Lise, being a pragmatist, accepts and Jerry is compelled to move on. Will their hearts win out or will pragmatism?

Who cares? The problem with An American In Paris is that when it is not preoccupied with the flash of style, it is utterly predictable. None of the characters, save the melancholy concert pianist Adam, are particularly empathetic and the societal notes about changing gender roles are hardly shocking today. Instead, An American In Paris is more a worthwhile historical document, a sign of the times from when it was made as opposed to an enduing love story. There are movies that manage to be both, like Casablanca (reviewed here!).

This is not to say that An American In Paris is all bad. Despite many of the lines being melodramatic, the lines are good. No, the writing is not exceptional and the characters are not in any way interesting enough to captivate viewers, but the lines and phrases are well-written and interesting. This, unfortunately, becomes like the cinematic equivalent of a fortune cookie with lines being clever, but not stringing together to build something substantial.

Director Vincente Minnelli uses the medium fairly well, though. Instead of simply translating something that seems like it could be an adequate stage play onto the screen, Minnelli uses the advantages of cinema over stage well. So, for example, to create the characterization of Lise, Henri sits and "tells" Adam about her. Henri speaks a line and Minnelli cuts away to Leslie Caron as Lise in a distinct costume doing a dance to portray a certain personality trait. Henri then lists another characteristic and Caron's outfit and style of dance both change.

Minnelli similarly uses the medium well to explore Adam's dream, when he creates a trippy sequence where Adam imagines presenting a concert as every member of an orchestra. Outside using masks, it is hard to imagine how this could be portrayed as well on stage and Minnelli actually makes the sequence quite delightful. As well, the event that made my partner declare in no uncertain terms that she was not watching this film with me, a seventeen minute ballet at the film's climax, was surprisingly engaging and it is an ambitious film moment for the complexity of the sets, costumes and dance routines. But for those who are not predisposed toward ballet, theater or musicals, this final sequence is not going to make one part of the converted. Instead, it plays to the expected conceits of tap, dance and theatrical performance. Minnelli does a decent job translating it to the screen, but it still is what it is and nothing more.

Unfortunately, the conventions of the musical take precedence over any true sense of storytelling sensibility. As a result, Jerry ends up singing and dancing to entertain a gang of children after he sells his first few paintings. Then, he sings the classic song "I've Got Rhythm." But the song makes no sense as Jerry has just revealed that he does not, in fact, have a squeeze. So, when he sings that he's got his gal, it leaves the attentive viewer feeling cheated. Instead, almost ten minutes of the movie are wasted from storytelling with a pointless and extended song and dance that does nothing but show off Gene Kelly's dancing ability.

On DVD, the print is sadly erratic. For example, in the musical number after Jerry meets Lise at the perfume store, the song progresses and all of a sudden the dancing Jerry and the piano-playing Adam are suddenly washed out. The color goes from being a very crisp, obviously restored print to a much grainier image that is not as color rich or vivid. The movie goes back to the restored for DVD version and continues, but the minute or two lapse is noticeable and troubling. As well, during Jerry's painting montage, the backgrounds are not cleaned up and when Adam has his fantasy orchestra performance, that too is not cleaned up in a way that the medium glorifies. In other words, matte lines and fading between film layers is evident.

As well, on DVD, An American In Paris is remarkably devoid of worthwhile DVD bonus features. The basic one-disc version (which is what I had access to) only had the movie's theatrical trailer. And interactive menus . . . ooh.

But for a film that is supposedly considered great, An American In Paris has a lot to live up to and given how obvious the character developments and plot are, this is a disappointing movie. Minnelli gets a lot of credit for style and Caron and Gene Kelly do great in the dance numbers and the music is even memorable. But the characters are more archetypes than actual characters and it is easy to forget this rather insubstantial film after one is done watching it.

Worth a single viewing, An American In Paris is trippy and stylish, but low on substance, making it hard to recommend for those creating a permanent library of DVDs.

[As a winner of the Best Picture Oscar, this film is part of W.L.'s Best Picture Project, available here! Please check it out!]

For other musicals, please check out my reviews of:
The Little Mermaid
Repo! The Genetic Opera
The Muppet Christmas Carol

5/10

For other movie reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011, 2009 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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