The Ten Best Films of 2002: The Top Five!
It was indeed difficult, but there were finally five films that for me stood on top of what was truly a magnificent film year. These were all remarkable achievements, and here they are.
5. CHICAGO
I'm always intrigued to watch how certain movie genres go out of style, disappearing for so long, to finally be revived again in the future. We've seen it happen with the Western, but I wondered if we would ever see a resurgence of the movie musical. The movie musical was once of the most popular genres that existed, dominating Academy Awards and box offices for so many years during the golden age of Hollywood. But soon, musicals died out in popularity, especially towards the end of the 1960's, when the more personal, darker, director-driven films arrived in the 70's. And for three decades, the musical has only had one or two brief tries at a resurgence, but has never come back into vogue. But perhaps now that will be changing again. 2001's Moulin Rouge was the film to really get it started, and this film, the adaptation of the Broadway musical Chicago may firmly bring the musical back. The one thing that I responded to the most in this film is its energy and passion. Everyone involved is so "involved" in the project, from Rob Marshall's skillful directing and fast paced editing, to the actual singing and dancing by the film's leads, most notably Richard Gere, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Renee Zellweger.
They all deliver wonderfully over the top performances, particularly Zeta-Jones, who has never seemed more alive and more sizzling on screen than she has here. While the film's story may not seem as revolutionary today as we have already seen so many examinations about how celebrity can be so easily manufactured to only flame out later, the fact that we're seeing a purely old-fashioned movie musical makes it all the more exciting. And this one really does have the old Hollywood kind of feel to it. So many wonderful musical sequences ... particularly effective is John C. Reilly's "Mr. Cellophane" solo dance number, recognizing his character's own sadness at being run over and forgotten by everyone, even his own wife, Renee Zellweger. It's simply a joy to watch this film, and if we do see a return of movie musicals in force, this time could now be looked at as the start.
4. UNFAITHFUL
In 1987, Adrian Lyne made what was then the landmark film about adultery with Fatal Attraction. Unfortunately, too much of our memories of the film take away from the real issues and instead we remember boiling bunnies, and a thrilling ending with Glenn Close wielding a knife coming out of the bathtub. Lyne is clearly interested in examining one of the most difficult issues that face married couples, that of infidelity. He did it with Indecent Proposal, but it again still had to have a gimmick to tell its story, this time showing adultery when an amount of $1 million was offered for the wife to stray. But finally, Lyne directed a film about infidelity which explores the topic honestly and realistically, how often adultery occurs in what seems to be the most happiest of marriages for explanations that can never be described.
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