Beautiful  to behold and  possessing a  soul to match The Greatest Show  reveals the unexpected musical  side to Hugh Jackman’s talent. Who would have  thought he had it in him?!   The musical  format brings out the best in all the actors in this gem of  a movie. Innovative,  colourful and clogged with that quality which Barnum invented—showmanship—this big-screen experience is just the way to end the  year.

Overall, “The Greatest Showman”, is remarkably rousing and entertaining.

Some movies are more than couple of hours spent in a cinema hall; The Greatest Showman grants you leave with a smile but its metaphysical approach to life will linger in your soul for long time. Hugh Jackman living P.T. Barnum is worth every single penny & I’m ready to go bankrupt over watching him as many times as I can.

If there’s an eleven-o’clock number, it’s got to be This Is Me, ably sung by Broadway belter Keala Settle, a motivational anthem that seems meant to stop the show but sounds too familiar to really stir the spirits. “I’m gonna send a flood, gonna drown them out,” the bearded lady sings, and alas, it’s an apt description of what this movie seems to be doing: Drowning us in pizazz and feel-good emotion, but not making us think, or learn. In the end, not much is happening under that circus tent.

There is a chance the film will have a better shelf life on streaming platforms because of its crowd pleasing musical elements, maybe it would be better to wait it out rather than catch it in theaters where one can’t push the forward button during the dull dull bits.

Where this film, with some talented star wattage, completely flops is in living up to any of its exalted claims. Of showmanship, of storytelling, of being glorious, or of even “a million dreams”.

Overall, The Greatest Showman, is remarkably rousing and entertaining.

The story is interesting and the performances are fantastic, but it’s the musical numbers that make ‘The Greatest Showman’ stunning.

Thankfully, a couple of barnstorming melodies — chief among them, ‘This is me’, performed with great gusto by the Oddities troupe — do raise the roof.

Otherwise, for a biopic that purports to celebrate humanity in all its diversity, The Greatest Showman is surprisingly flat.

Barnum’s words to a renowned Opera singer (played by Ferguson) hold true for the film as well. You may go watch this film to witness the thrill of a circus spectacle but what you also get is something real.