The Greatest Showman - skakigt mottagande i USA

Hugh Jackman sjunger i The Greatest Showman

Hugh Jackman har tidigare lett Oscarsgalan och nu kan han vinna en Golden Globe för sin roll som PT Barnum. Själva filmen har dock fått ett skakigt mottagande, många kritiker genomskådar den som tillrättalagd och förljugen. Vilket inte minst gäller det abysmala porträttet av Jenny Lind. Barnum själv, som var en komplex och ganska otrevlig karaktär, däremot snudd på helgonförklaras.

Recensioner av The Greatest Showman i USA,  utdrag:

The Hollywood Reporter av David Rooney "This ersatz portrait of American big-top tent impresario P.T. Barnum is all smoke and mirrors, no substance. It hammers pedestrian themes of family, friendship and inclusivity while neglecting the fundaments of character and story."
"This is a movie that works way too hard at its magic, continually prompting us with insistent music cues to feel excitement that just isn't there. If P.T. Barnum had delivered entertainment this flat to his public, the name would have long been forgotten."
The Rolling Stone, Peter Travers "How do you cast a virtuoso Hugh Jackman as P.T. Barnum, spare no expense in production values, add a score by Oscar and Tony winners Ben Pasek and Justin Paul and still end up with the shrill blast of nothing that is The Greatest Showman? Ask first-time director Michael Gracey, who cut his teeth on commercials and music videos without ever mastering the crucial knack of building snippets of musical comedy and drama into a satisfying whole."

Los Angeles Times Justin Chang " a dispiriting lack of faith in the audience’s intelligence, and a dawning awareness of its own aesthetic hypocrisy. You’ve rarely seen a more straight-laced musical about the joys of letting your freak flag fly."