Beauty and the Beast

Director Bill Condon (Dreamgirls, Kinsey, Gods and Monsters, Breaking Dawn Part 2) has helmed a pleasant experience with the live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast. Obviously, nothing can replace the cartoon feature from 1991, but B&TB 2017 is certainly worth seeing, and like the most interesting fan-fics, fills in a lot of blanks for us that went unexplored in previous versions.

Emma Watson, as Belle, has more of a pop singing voice than legit musical theatre, but I could easily forgive that, because she totally sold the songs and the role, which is ultimately what I care about most. Dan Stevens, as the Beast, does have impressive Broadwayish pipes, and he gets to have a nice solo number with Evermore - a brand new song written for the movie. It is the counterpart to If I Can't Love Her (from the Broadway musical), and while Evermore is not quite as strong a song, I really enjoyed watching it. Others in the impressive cast include Kevin Kline as Maurice, Emma Thompson as Mrs. Potts, a marvelous Ewan McGregor as Lumiere, Ian McKellan as Cogsworth, Stanley Tucci as Maestro Cadenza, and Josh Gad as the much-publicized LeFou. The moment that was so controversial is a sneeze-and-you'll-miss-it bit that lasts all of 2 or 3 seconds, and can be interpreted a couple of different ways. There is nothing "preachy" about it, and one's mind needn't automatically jump to the "homosexuality" conclusion.

I wish a few songs exclusive to the Broadway show had been carried over to the film (like Human Again, A Change in Me, or even Me), but as it stands, B&TB 2017 is a fine, beautifully filmed, and adequately enchanting journey. Its 2 hour and 9 minute running time goes by swiftly.