Chicago

[mike]

Yessee, I've seen very few Broadway productions in my day. One of them was the revival of Chicago at the Aronoff a few years back. Enjoyed the heck out of it but when asked to describe it, my pat answer was always: "like a Victoria's Secret catalogue come to life". :D What's not to like?

With that in mind, I've been looking forward to this for a while.
Quite enjoyable - in fact, I think it told the story better than stage version did. After many of the numbers, It felt natural wanting to stand & applaud. Catherine Zeta-Jones has forged a whole new identity for herself...she can really sing & dance. Renee Zellweger nails the sexy/mousey part pretty well, and although Richard Gere may not have been the ideal choice to play the smooth-talking lawyer Billy Flynn, you can't help but grin a little as he gives it his best try. There's a nice sequence where he does a prolonged tap dance bit that's pretty impressive. You couldn't help but to give it up for the guy.

Very interesting how they're rolling this movie out: all 3 have been all over the talk shows, critics are eating it up, but there has been next to no standard 'trailer' TV ads to speak of and apparently, it's only opened to a very limited number of screens [2 in Cinti] nationwide prior to a wider release next month.

In all - I thought it was very faithful to the stage version; editing seemingly via MTV kept things moving....

It's a little like going to see a play at the movies. Not to be confused with Moulin Rouge - far less stuffy.

[AmericanScience]

sweet jesus. how could this movie be interesting?!?!? i wish on polls on here it gave standard deviations.. i think it's a "yeah! chicago! i'd love that" or a "i'd rather have tiny fish bones shoved into my eye sockets" reaction..

my only worse "nightmare team" to star in chicago might be:

daryl hannah / gerard depardieu / joey lauren adams


(secretly hoping no one whisks me away in the dark of night for a showing of chicago),
B

[c-lando]

This movie rocked my socks off. Unlike Mike, I did NOT refrain from applauding after a few numbers. I couldn't help myself. The movie is ELECTRIC. The transition from the "real time" sequences to the "imaginary/dream" sequences is flawless. I had never seen CHICAGO prior to seeing this film so I'm not really sure if the show normally plays out this way. But, I thought it was brilliant.

The casting is superb (though I thought that Renee Zellweger looked different each time she appeared on screen - like her hair and skin was going through different stages of trauma from not being well-nourished). I have the most enormous crush on Catherine Zeta-Jones now. She's RED HOT SMOKIN' in this movie. Gere played his part perfectly and John C. Reilly gives one of the most touching performances with his version of "Mr. Cellophane". Oh - and don't get me started on Queen Latifah. She's ammmmmmmazing when she performs her character's signature song.

The choreography is explosive......the costumes were great. The story held together and kept my interest even though I could tell where it was going to go.

MOULIN ROUGE did NOTHING for me.....but, I can't wait to see this movie again.

[butter_of_69]

I find it humorous that CHICAGO is trying to link itself with MOULIN ROUGE via its ad campaign. It, frankly, scares me off.

But if c-lando, who also didn't like M.R., says it's OK....

Fuck, who am I kidding. I am just plain scared of musicals. They're so hard to do really well. And, I'm a guy, so that's another strike against them right there, as I am genetically predisposed to find them more boring.

[eyeball]

I saw something on either HBO or Showtime the other day about this one. they showed the behind the scenes making of it and the amount of work involved for the 3 actors. In depth about how dance and singing is what Catherine did first....acting in movies came WAY later.

I might have tomorrow off work. If I do I plan to go to see it :)

[shivvy]

"Chicago" was absolutely amazing. Shockingly, I agree with just about everything that C-lando says above. I'll never understand how that girl didn't love "Moulin Rouge" (and I won't forgive you for it either sweetie!), but her review here is on the money.

I am NOT a fan of C.Z. Jones, but she is fantastic in this role. Queen Latifah is tremendous and Renee shocked me with how well she pulled off Roxie Hart. All-in-all, nothing has entertained me this much at the movies since, well, "Moulin Rouge."

Looking forward to picking up the soundtrack on this one ASAP.

[Sovrana]

okay...I finally saw it (being a mom forces certain things to the back burner).

I agree that the visuals were great and like c-lando I loved the transition between drama and musical numbers...great editting!!

BUT I could not get past Rene Zellweger! She was NEVER Roxie to me...she was always the chick from Jerry MacGuire...her squinty eyes and scrunched up nose was too cutesy for Roxie and annoyed me to no end because of it. (I know guys like this kind of stuff) Her moves, expressions, acting seemed extremely forced. She wasn't sassy enough. In fact I yawned EVERYTIME she took to the stage to dance and sing and many times in between.

I went to bed trying to figure out who could have pulled this role off because Zellweger couldn't carry it. I decided that Madonna could have done a MUCH better job. Madonna may not be a better actress, but she has the look and she certainly doesn't look uncomfortable dancing and singing...she emits more passion in such performances than Zellweger.

Catherine-Zeta Jones was excellent....she always surprises me!

As for Moulin Rouge....it was MUCH MUCH better!!! I felt throughout that movie that I was IN the Moulin Rouge....all of the characters where passionate and much more believable....and "sassier" :D

[Docta]

ya, chicago while very good was a bit of a let down for me indeed. visually stunning, but i am more music and story focussed when i watch a musical and this left me wanting more. while richard gere was fun to watch, particularly in the court/tap dance and the press/puppetry scenes, his singing needed to be edited out, so nasally.

i too felt the urge to clap after a few numbers. the press/puppetry scene gave me chills.

and ya, wimmins in their skivies is always a nice touch but damn those fast moving cameras!

agreed, not close to mulan rouge in music, story and characters, well minus that damn can-can scene, blech.

[Docta]

oh! and catherine, latifa, and john c (is he now in every move that comes out?) just amazing.

[Dangerous Blond]

I know I am in the minority here, but I didn't like this movie. I thought it was BORING. Catherine Zeta Jones and Queen Latifah were great in the movie but the rest of the cast bored me silly. Renee Zellweger scares me - is it just me, or has the girl had a little too much Botox work done? Those squinty/beady eyes.

I wanted to run out of the theater mid-way through, but unfortunatley I was forced to stay and watch the whole damn thing.
I am avowed to stay far far away from musicals from now on - should have learned my lesson with Moulin Rouge.

[postfeminist]

i was totally disappointed by this movie-- i loved Moulin Rouge and thought it was amazing....chicago was tooooo overhyped; i thought it was kind of a waste of my time. :(

[mobyoctopad]

Originally posted by Dangerous Blond
Renee Zellweger scares me - is it just me, or has the girl had a little too much Botox work done? Those squinty/beady eyes.


heehee. to me, she looks like she always has a sour lemon in her mouth. she could double for the sour face girl in twin peaks: fire walk with me.