Great music, some good performances, a beautifully crafted visual style. What's missing? CHARACTERS THAT I GIVE A RATS ASS ABOUT AND A PLOT THAT IS THICKER THAN NEWSPAPER. Good attempt at a movie with a shitty plot about worthless 2D characters. If you like the music, go listen to it, otherwise don't waste your time. I love theater, but this is a discredit to the musical genre.
I have to say that I really enjoyed this movie. It's not Oscar material, but it was a hell of a good time. I didn't know what to expect going in, and had never seen the musical before. I thought I was going to get another over-the-top Baz Luhrmann eye-candy bonanza (which is fine, but doesn't need any copycats), and ended up with something completely different. The only way to describe it is "not quite a film, not quite a stage production," in a strange harmony I hadn't really seen before. This was a throwback to the earliest filmed musicals, which should be something most of this generation is completely unfamiliar with. Richard Gere was a complete surprise (although in retrospect I might have guessed it was only a matter of time before he'd be playing another lawyer), Catherine Zeta-Jones floored me, and most of the supporting cast was superb as well. Again, it was acted as though it were staged, and I really liked this. The only disappointment was Renee Zellweger, and that's saying something because she's such a cutie (although, as far as "Chicago" is concerned, not even that). Either this wasn't the right part for her, or she wasn't playing it to its potential. Fans of the musical be forewarned; I've heard that some of the better songs have been cut out of the film version. I personally wouldn't know. I liked what I saw - just don't go in expecting a complete adaptation from melodramatic musical to high-art film and you'll be fine. -M