It is so refreshing to go to a theater and feel that your money was actually well spent. It’s nice to be REALLY entertained and not feel as though you’ve been taken by some hollywood corporate mega-machine. This broadway-show-gone-silver-screen is explosive, funny, creative and sassy.
While most of the major critics adored Catherine Zeta-Jones they all but ignored brilliant performances by Rene Zellweger (Bridget Jones’ Diary) and Queen Latifah (Living Out Loud). It’s always nice to Christine Baranski in a fun cameo role like Mary Sunshine, an easily persuaded American journalist. The ventriloquism/string puppet scene was hilarious.
Maybe having never seen this musical on broadway made me appreciate the little surprises. Maybe my knowledge of my home-towns history made the story identifiable. Maybe Queen Latifah is a goddess. Or maybe, just maybe... this movie is excellent.