“Do you hear the people sing?” Les Misérables. This has to be one of my favorite musicals ever. When I heard that they were making it into a movie, I was a little worried that it would be nothing like the stage production and that the actors cast would not do the characters justice. Luckily, I was completely wrong.

When the title screen flashed before my eyes and the music began to play, I knew that I was in for an amazing experience. To be clear, I have seen this movie three times and I was a little upset the first time because of a few changes that they made such as changing lyrics around and adding songs that were not originally in the musical.

I forgot to bring tissues for my first viewing of this movie which was a major issue due to the fact that it was a tear-jerker. I’m going to be honest, I cried quite a bit..

Here are my opinions on each character.

Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman): Wow. Can he just take his Oscar now? Jackman truly captured the character of Jean Valjean. In the beginning of the movie when he was a convict, I thought that he was a different actor. The physical transformation was incredible. Jackman’s voice was one to deeply appreciate. I loved his tone and the way that he interpreted Jean Valjean through the songs was fantastic. Overall, I truly enjoyed his performance.

Javert (Russell Crowe): It took me a while to appreciate Crowe’s voice. With the first few notes he sang, I was terrified that he would completely butcher Javert’s character and the beautiful compositions that go with him. Once he got to the song “Stars” my faith in him was renewed. His acting was phenomenal and he almost made the law-abiding character of Javert loveable before his suicide. I will admit that I did cry when he died.

Fantine (Anne Hathaway): I know that many people have their opinions on Hathaway’s performance, but I deeply enjoyed it. She embraced the character of Fantine and all of the emotions that Fantine would be feeling at that point in her life. I believe that she deserves an Oscar for her performance as well. She made my heart quiver during “I Dreamed a Dream”. As much as she has been criticized for her performance, she does deserve to be praised. That role is very hard to play well.

Older Cosette (Amanda Seyfried): As soon as I heard that Seyfried was playing Cosette, I knew that we were in for a treat. Her voice is very delicate and the character of Cosette is mainly timid. I can’t picture anyone else playing this role. Her heart was in her performance especially in her scenes with Marius. You could really feel her emotions.

Thénardier (Sacha Baron Cohen): It is always a treat to watch Cohen perform. He is such a unique actor and does very well in unique and odd roles. He was so much fun to watch as Thénardier. He brought a sense of humor to this very solemn and serious musical. He and Helena Bonham Carter were perfect together. Absolutely hilarious.

Madame Thénardier (Helena Bonham Carter): Like Cohen, Carter plays obscure and strange characters but she does it so well. No one else can play those quirky characters like her. She brings something completely different to each character and for Madame Thénardier she brought humor and a light-hearted feel to all of her scenes.

Marius (Eddie Redmayne): To be completely honest, Marius was not one of my favorite characters. That is mainly because I love Éponine and he breaks her heart, but that’s my opinion. His voice was very good but personally, I didn’t fall in love with it. It was not my favorite, but it was beautiful. My two favorite scenes where I really saw Marius’ true character was during “A Little Fall of Rain” and “Empty Chairs at Empty Tables”. He absolutely nailed those songs. I definitely sobbed.

Enjolras (Aaron Tveit): Amazing. Maybe it was the hair…no…he was truly amazing. He was the most perfect Enjolras ever. He embraced the spirit of a passionate leader ready to face death. His voice was amazing too. Enjolras is not an easy part for a man to sing, well. But he did a great job.

Éponine (Samantha Barks): I love Éponine. That’s really all I have to say. Barks was absolutely fantastic for this role and her voice. I relate so much to the character of Éponine and having someone perform  how I feel it in my heart was unreal.

Gavroche (Daniel Huttlestone): Did anyone else think that this kid was ridiculously precious? He was so cute it was unreal. I couldn’t believe that that voice came out of that little boy. He was such a great Gavroche and I couldn’t get enough of him!

Young Cosette (Isabelle Allen): Adorable. She was Cosette. I saw a poor little girl whose life was falling apart in Allen’s eyes. Her voice was nothing to complain about either. In her scenes with Jackman, I couldn’t help but smile. Their relationship was precious.

Courfeyrac (Fra Fee): I think that Fee should have played Marius, but he was cast perfectly. I loved his voice and his hair…he was a brilliant actor. I loved what he brought to the revolutionary members.

This film has been nominated for several Academy Awards in the categories of best picture, best leading actor, best supporting actress, best costume design, best make-up and hair styling, best original song, best production design, and best sound mixing. It is definitely going to be an interesting Oscar night for many people!

I truly adored this movie and it pulled at my heart strings in a way that no other movie has ever done before. If you have not seen it yet, I strongly recommend that you see it…maybe even more than once!