Spoilers

well if you’ve avoided my love for this well done.
we are seeing jackman at the o2 tomorrow ahhhhhhhhh seriously can’t wait, so thought I’d play catch up & you know watch showman one more time to put me in the mood for it.

Time for your popcorn synopsis

PT Barnum is a son of a suit maker who dreams of being something more than he is. He meets charity a girl who father his dad designs clothers for & the two start going on adventures due to her dads displeasure & she is eventually sent away to boarding school. Barnum write to charity whenever he can, which is hard as his dad dies & he is left on the streets to fend for himself. He eventually is helped out by a disfigured woman & goes to work on the great American railway he returns with money & marrys charity & starts a family with her promising her the world, much again to her dads dislike. After the company he works for goes bust & being inspired by his kids, that no matter what they can do something in life, he goes to the bank to take out a loan & buy a museum, however no one visits it. While at the bank he meets a dwarf who after his girls encouragement to have something real in his museum he persuades to come work for him. He starts having auditions to put a group together to be in his museum however after realising there talent & the fact everyone loves them they start to perform every night. A critic tells Barnum everything he is doing is fake & it’s a sideshow circus which Barnum embraces. He then buys the house he & charity always played in when they were little & gives his girls their birthday wishes, but it’s not the life they hoped for. While doing this he meets Robert Carlisle who puts on opera & shows & convinces him to come raise his profile, which he agrees to eventually do at 10% of the takings, knowing that it will cost him everything. Eventually they are invited to London to meet the queen & they also meet miss lynn who Barnum convinces to come to America & perform as he want to give them something real. The show proves a huge success but Barnum turns his back on his circus. They become angry & realise he’s just the same as everyone else. This also affects Anne’s relationship with Carlisle especially after his parents realise what’s going on, as they know they want to be together but it will never be accepted. Barnum take lynn on tour but when she starts to develop feeling for him he leaves but not before she can stage a fake kiss goodbye. Barnum return to New York is scuppered by a group of locals who attack the circus & set it on fire, Barnum has to run in to save Carlisle after he originally went in to save Anne who was already out. When Carlisle awakens he realises Anne has always been there & they properly start their relationship. Charity realise that Barnum was never straight with her & may have had an affair with lynn & walks out on him with the kids. After speaking to the circus who have forgiven him, for basically being the world biggest dick, they tell him it’s all about family & was never about the money. He goes back to charity & the two reconcile. Carlisle who had always taken his money every week from the show offers Barnum a partnership to restart the circus in a tent at the docks at 50% each. Barnum hands over the reins to Carlisle & Anne to run the circus, as he meets his family to see their daughters ballet show & finally realises that all he ever wanted in life was right there in front of him.

If you dont cry at this is me, you are heartless im sorry you really are. Youve been on this journey with them from being nothing to everything only for them to then be cast aside like everything else in his life. It is so empowering & its just beautiful & heartbreaking & anyone who isnt affected even an awww, well you need to look at myself. I have a friend who when we all went along to the sing-a-long version who always calls me soppy for crying at movies, & isnt really a musical’s person when we left the cinema she said she got really emotional at that point & felt so sorry for them. Okay she didnt cry but i was just like yes epic win for Cinema kind get in.

I also cry when he leaps on the back of the train to go get the family & then at the end when hes in the theatre watching his kids realising the truth & meaning of all of it. It really does hit home & you do just want to see & hug your family afterwards. Although that fucking blue scarf does ruin the moment on the beach. I know it symbolizes the freedom & letting go of the past with it floating around but its a bit much.

Now ive not seen this since ive actually go back from Jackman (i know im breaking tradition here) but when we saw him the way he performed A Million Dreams was so emotional & beautiful & really was stunning & i just sat there & cried. I reckon if i watch the film now i will cry at this too because of how its staged & how true & honest that performance was. IT really was one of the most beautiful thing i have ever seen be performed. Stop making me cry Hugh.

The only song that does my head in is walking a tightrope. It really does it was like they went ah weve got 5 mins of film we need to fill a gap of what can we do a montage song bit. I mean the dancing in the curtains is good, but the rest of it no.

I still want to do the otherside dance on the bar one day. I reckon i could absolutely nail that & people would come from miles around to see it. I do like the fact that because of the number of takes it took & they had cold coffee instead that Efron now cant drink coffee. I imagine by the end of it he was sick of it. Better than actually having them be pissed i guess.

I love the critic guy hes brilliant. Hes my spirit animal. I just think he has some very good points to say but isnt as scaving as he could be & does come around to the idea in the end & understands why. I like to think i try to do that so he resonates.

The bit with the queen is the most random thing of all it really is. I mean its a bit of a filler to start with & you do just kinda think really we are going here, but then the plot device that it introduces us to Lynn is good, & that introductory bit is just brilliant & amazing where its like introduce me, no i dont actually know her , oh who cares do it anyhow.

The elephant rising at the end to the theatre is so over the top, but it would be what he would do. Especially after doing something so nobel & honest as handing it all over to someone for the greater good, to then go out in a blaze of glory like that.

The post getting to Charity is a bit much if im honest, that would never work now without a stamp it would just be thrown in the bin.

& there’s a beautiful line near the end when they say real estate in new york has no prospect to it so theres no point in buying it. That properly makes me belly laugh every single time. I know thats the point of being naive & not looking forward, but yea that cracks me up so much.

The whole film however is held together by Jackman, doesnt matter what Zendaya, Efron, Williams, Ferguson do, without Hughs stage presents & style & attitude & vulnerability it just falls apart. This was his masterpiece, yes Logan is a stunning defining moment in his life but this really was the part Hugh was always meant to play to cement him in the world & it is all about him & its one of the finest performances in a musical ever.

What a film it is. Im sure whoever my FBI / MI6 agent (hi guys i know you can see me typing this its probably just triggered something) is probably sick of me playing the sound track & going on about this, but it really does make me laugh & smile & does make you see the best & worse in everyone. Maybe thats why its a huge hit we all relate to a story in the film & we all can take a character & go that similar to me or a loved one, maybe we should talk.

Yes its a good story & film & the songs are stunning but a film that makes you happy & smile & lets you talk to other people about seeing the bigger picture in life because it is here in front of you, is something to be cherished.

It really is everything you could ever want… from a movie.