My first impression of the 2017 film The Greatest Showman was that it was going to be a heartfelt entertaining musical filled with laughter and dramatic action. I was excited to see some of my personal favorite actors work in the movie. 

The main actors/characters in The Greatest Showman were Hugh Jackman (P.T. Barnum), Zac Efron (Phillip Carlyle), Michelle Williams (Charity Barnum), Rebecca Ferguson (Jenny Lind), Zendaya (Anne Wheeler), Keala Settle (Lettie Lutz, The Bearded Lady), and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (W.D. Wheeler). The film was directed by Michael Gracey (Rocketman, Naruto). 

Growing up in the early 1800s, P.T. Barnum displays a natural talent for publicity and promotion, selling lottery tickets by age 12. After trying his hands at various jobs, P.T. turns to show business to indulge his limitless imagination, rising from nothing to create the Barnum & Bailey circus. Featuring catchy musical numbers, exotic performers and daring acrobatic feats, Barnum’s mesmerizing spectacle soon takes the world by storm to become the greatest show on Earth.

A quote from Rotten Tomatoes reviewer Jason Fraley states, “Hugh Jackman dazzles as circus tycoon P.T. Barnum in this criminally underrated biopic featuring a timeless Pasek & Paul songbook of “A Million Dreams” and “Never Enough.”” The rating on the Rotten Tomatoes website for The Greatest Showman is 56% Rotten Tomatoes from all critics.

My personal rating for this movie would be a 3 ½ out of 5 because it’s not the best movie in the world, or musical for that matter, but there’s something about it that makes me love it. The acting could be better, but the musical selections are phenomenal and the storyline itself is very heartwarming. 

I do recommend this movie to anyone who loves heartwarming family-friendly movies, but I don’t recommend this to anyone who’s not a fan of musicals.