Jackman was born to be a star, and more accurately, born to be a musical-theater star. That’s the quality I find most crucial to judging Crowe’s performance as commendable: He hits all his notes at the right times.
Crowe acquits himself best in “Javert’s Suicide,” as the tremulous quality of his voice when he’s pushed to the edges of his range works in harmony with his character’s uncertainty - and to his credit, he nails his high notes. It makes Javert’s eventual crisis and breakdown particularly compelling. The rugged quality of Crowe’s voice makes Javert a little more vulnerable from the start of the film - he’s intimidating more because he’s a big guy with rough edges, and less because he possesses the kind of laser precision that Mann brings to the part. Photo: Universal Picturesīut a strange choice doesn’t mean a bad choice. Russell Crowe as Javert in Les Misérables. Their voices are clearly distinguishable from each other, but all of them possess a broad, open quality, unburdened by the gravelliness of Crowe’s voice. Listening to previous well-known Javerts - Roger Allam, Terrence Mann, Philip Quast, Norm Lewis - makes that distinction clear. His voice is a little gruff, rather than clarion in the way that’s generally expected on Broadway.
If anything, it’s Hugh Jackman’s performance as Jean Valjean that isn’t up to snuff.Ĭrowe is admittedly a strange choice to star in a musical. Now that the film is available to stream on Netflix, it seems like the perfect time to revisit Crowe’s stab at starring in a musical.įor all the backlash that followed him at the time, Russell Crowe’s turn as Javert is a commendable, compelling effort. That in turn makes it almost eight years since Russell Crowe’s performance as Les Mis antagonist Inspector Javert made such a negative impression that Crowe was forced to defend his singing chops on social media. It’s been almost eight years since Tom Hooper’s Les Misérables hit theaters.
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