Jean Valjean, a Frenchman imprisoned for stealing bread, must flee a police officer named Javert. The pursuit consumes both men's lives, and soon Valjean finds himself in the midst of the student revolutions in France.
It never sinks, but it never really soars either, though here and there it hits a powerful moment.
– Mick LaSalle,
San Francisco Chronicle,
1 Jan 2000
fresh:
Towering over the entire film is Liam Neeson, the Irish actor who seems at home in any kind of picture, whether it transpires in contemporary America, World War II Germany, or centuries-ago Scotland.
– James Berardinelli,
ReelViews,
1 Jan 2000
fresh:
With a first-rate cast and a venerable storytelling style, it fluently condenses Victor Hugo's epic novel and retrieves some of its suspenseful momentum.
– Janet Maslin,
New York Times,
1 Jan 2000
rotten:
The movie's whole virtuous conception of Jean Valjean sticks in my craw. He's haunted and hunted, but he reeks of a reasoned, noble superiority that's a pretty sterile quality in the hero of an epic.
– Charles Taylor,
Salon.com,
1 Jan 2000
fresh:
Without a doubt the most emotionally powerful and handsomely mounted production of the story yet.