It's just so soaringly monotonous... And although hard-core fans will love this whatever, and good luck to them, I'd rather set fire to my own hair than ever have to sit through it again. It would be over quicker, at least.

While it isn't a consummate movie, Les Misérables will stir a younger generation of fans with its glitz and charm and perhaps pioneer a new style of movie musicals.

Hugh Jackman delivers a muscular, earnest performance that holds together this diverse ensemble cast - which includes predictable but welcome comic relief from Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter - for the full 158min.

Ultimately, Tom Hooper's experimental 'Les Misérables' is a jigsaw of performances with no central momentum that is both exhaustive and exhausting.