We were on a family vacation, staying in a hotel, and my sister and I were randomly clicking through channels (the best part about staying at a hotel was SO MANY TV CHANNELS) when we came across this beautiful stage production with this gorgeous, gamine girl singing the most amazing song ever. It was Eponine singing On My Own, only we didn't know that, but we were hooked. Turned out we were watching the 10th anniversary dream cast concert, but even without the acting to fill in the between-songs story bits, even without having seen the first half, we fell in love. (I still can't hear Colm Wilkinson sing Bring Him Home without bawling.) Eventually our uncle bought us the VHS (not even DVD! Gosh I'm old) of that same performance, and we watched it over and over. Sister bought the sheet music, and she played it beautifully while I attempted to sing it and always squeaked out on the high notes. There were a LOT of high notes.

All that to say, I was cautiously thrilled about the movie, and the more I hear about it, the less cautious I feel. Kind of the opposite of how things were with The Hobbit, come to think of it ... I'm SO glad it hasn't ruined anyone's memories. Although I did have one friend complain that Anne Hathaway reduced Fantine's strong character who fought tooth and nail for her daughter to a pathetic, weak thing who couldn't do anything but cry. I found that ... less than just. You can be strong and still weep.

Still. Can't please everybody!