“The Greatest Showman” Movie Review

January 10, 2018

Loosely based on the life of P.T. Barnum, “The Greatest Showman” is the perfect antidote to the hateful world we find ourselves living in.

P.T. Barnum (Hugh Jackman) grew up the son of a tailor working for a rich family. He suffers abuse at the hands of that family, and, the world in general. The only good thing about the rich and snooty family is their daughter, Charity (Michelle Williams), who cares less about being rich and privileged and more about enjoying life as it is presented to her.

The kids grow up, get married, and have two daughters: Helen (Cameron Seely) and Caroline (Austyn Johnson). They are living a happy, comfortable, life until P.T. gets laid off.

Without an income to support his family, P.T. decides to start his own business; a museum of oddities consisting of mostly stuffed animals. Things don’t go as well as he hoped and his daughters tell him he needs something live in the museum.

P.T. decides that they are right and goes about seeking those who are different. He finds the Bearded Lady, Lettie Lutz (Keala Settle), with the voice of an angel, a little person, Tom Thumb (Sam Humphrey), a trapeze act that includes Anne Wheeler (Zendaya), and many more.

With this motley crew, and some terrific music and dance routines, P.T. Barnum realizes his dream while making others happy. But in the course of succeeding, and driven by his painful childhood, Barnum loses his focus……alienating those around him in his quest for even more success.

But, with the help of Philip Carlyle (Zac Efron), his family, and his “family” of circus people, Barnum rights his wrongs and finally realizes that he needs to accept himself as he is….just liked he helped those in his circus “family” learn to celebrate their uniqueness.

“No one ever made a difference by being like everyone else” P.T. Barnum

“The Greatest Showman” is perfect on many levels: The music and dance are inspiring, we learn to never give up on our dreams, we learn about acceptance, diversity, and human compassion, and we learn that we should embrace our own unique qualities while rejecting those who live with hate in their hearts.