‘The Greatest Showman’ is an original musical with a solid cast, catchy songs

Posted on January 14, 2018

By MARK VIOLA

In my review of 2016’s “La La Land,” I called it the cinematic equivalent of a unicorn — an original movie musical set in modern day. It was a great movie, and for about three minutes last February, it had claim to the Best Picture Oscar.

So, how was Hollywood going to follow up that success in 2017? The answer is “The Greatest Showman,” an original movie musical set in the 1800s. Add in Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, the lyricists who penned the award-winning songs we heard in “La La Land,” and you have a movie that I, as a fan of musicals, was quite intrigued about over the holiday.

Fortunately, “The Greatest Showman” is an enjoyable time with a fun story with engaging characters (who can actually sing) and catchy songs. I had a lot of fun with this movie, even though the story structure is pretty predictable, and the film as a whole provides an exceedingly sanitized look at its main subject, the title showman, P.T. Barnum.

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