Unlike most men, I'm not ashamed to say that I enjoy musicals. Every spring since I was a teenager my family and I would go watch the spring play at the prep school my mom works at. They put on a Broadway level show, no joke. 

That being said, I was looking forward to Les Miserables. I really like Anne Hathaway and I got goosebumps just watching her performance of "I dreamed a dream" in the trailer. 

The performances are what really carries the film. Hugh Jackman is haunting as Jean Valjean and Russll Crowe adds very stern and rugged vocals to Javert. Anne Hathaway turns in one of the most powerful scenes you will see in a movie all year. 

Her head is shaven, her eyes are about to burst with tears, she has snot dripping out of her nose. It doesn't get any more vulnerable than that. 

Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter add some much needed comic relief. Then, a little more than half way through the film, something very interesting happens. Something that makes film so exciting. Les Miserables is stolen from some of the biggest actors Hollywood has to offer by newcomer Samantha Barks who plays Eponine, who's tragically in love with a man who has fallen in love with another woman. 

Many people are going to have a hard time getting past the fact that everything in the film is sung. Yes...everything. The other problem is that the last act of the film really involves the French revolution. This sometimes seems out of place because the first half of the film really had nothing to do with the war. These are small problems and don't hurt the film. 

Les Miserables is easily one of the most powerful films of the year, packed with some truly tear-jerking scenes. Guy or girl doesn't matter, go see Les Miserables.