Nominated for an Academy Award and the winner of Golden Globes’ Best Original Song, Hugh Jackman’s The Greatest Showman is a showstopper filled with extravagant dance numbers and elaborate costumes. The music was written by the duo of Pasek & Paul who, in 2017, won both an Oscar and a Tony award for their work with the movie La La Land and musical Dear Evan Hansen.  

The musical follows the beginning of show business as P.T. Barnum establishes the first circus in New York City. Barnum and his family become a laughingstock for cultured New Yorkers as his show exhibits society’s most shameful. Ambitious Barnum continues to strive for bigger business, which ultimately puts his family relationship to strains. The story comes full circle as Barnum realizes that the talent and uniqueness that each member of the circus contributes is essential to what makes show business worth the battle.

The movie displayed incredible talent. P.T. Barnum is played by Hugh Jackman, who is known for his work as Wolverine and Jean Val Jean in the 2012 movie musical of Les Miserables.  Jackman brought a fresh air to the movie; he was very charismatic to watch and easily one of the best actors in the cast. Alongside him was Michelle Williams, a 2017 Oscar nominee for her splendid work in Manchester by the Sea, Zac Efron, who certainly did not leave his musical skills on the East High basketball court, and Disney child star Zendaya.

It is important to note that the movie is far from accurate from the actual life of P.T. Barnum. According to the film, Barnum and his wife Charity fell in love around the age of nine. On the contrary, real-life Barnum and Charity met and eloped at age 19. Without giving away too much, many of the other plot points in the movie were also fiction. It was very much a fantasy of his life, and it could even be argued that it was director Michael Gracey’s fan fiction of Barnum.

While the actors did a wonderful job with the choreography and displayed dazzling music acts accompanied with trapeze art and ballroom dancing, the character development was certainly lacking. Most of the characters did not have fulfilled any arc with their role, thus much of the emotional connection between characters and the audience was nonexisting. Lucky enough, the whole array of the musical numbers and production distracted the void of character development.

The movie was truly stunning and the message is quite beautiful. Everyone has a unique talent that should be celebrated. The movie industry is over filtered with beautiful models and heartthrobs, yet The Greatest Showman proves that art should be an outlet for those who have a beautiful soul.