Wolff rating: UNSURPASSED
Plot summary: Young writer in Paris at the turn of the century (the last one, 1900) finds himself drawn to a courtesan at a dance parlor/brothel.
Biased, pithy comments: I could write a bunch of boring reviewer-ese junk like, ``Baz Luhrmann has again surprised me, this time with something that has never existed before and could only exist on a movie or in a feverish dream,'' and it would be true, but that would demean this movie. You might read in other reviews about the ``paper-thin characters'' or ``pretensious craziness'', and that, too, could safely be ignored. I watched, a second time, the second love duet, and the crazy, goofy, vulnerable smile on McGregor's face, and the admiration, conflict, and love criss-cross Kidman's beautiful, beautiful face and you have genuine tender human emotion, emotion that is the root of the deliberately cliche things they were singing. Brilliant. The whole film is wonderful, touching, and outsize like an opera, only an opera where you already know all the beats of all the songs. You might hate it, but I think that would be only if you've shut off love in your heart.
Other Notes: I'm not normally moved to say such silly things as that last statement, but what can you say when halfway through the movie you've fallen in love with both the leads and you haven't stopped sparking from all the energy? I haven't stop grinning about this one. It reminded me of the love I felt for my wife---a love that has never stopped growing.
How many times I have seen it: x1
Starring: Nichole Kidman, Ewan McGregor, John Leguizamo, Jim Broadbent, Richard Roxburgh.
Directed by: Baz Luhrmann