THE GREATEST SHOWMAN

Inspired by the imagination of P.T. Barnum, The Greatest Showman is an original musical that celebrates the birth of show business and tells of a visionary who rose from nothing to create a spectacle that became a worldwide sensation.

The music and the dancing is good and, sometimes, spectacular with music that is uplifting if laid on a bit too thick. The whole thing is very pretty, but the story is surprisingly superficial. The style of the music and the stunts have very little, if any, relationship to the 1800s that the story is set in. And it is hard to believe that the original Barnum wasn’t exploiting “freaks” for his own gain — but, of course, none of that is explored in this sweet movie. If you just want to see something with some nice, uplifting song and dance, then you’ll enjoy this. If you are looking for a realistic biopic of PT Barnum — which is far more interesting than this version, then give it a miss.