Newsies (1992)

Since I'm out of musicals to watch (it's not entirely true though as I have A Star Is Born, the 1954 version, but I'm not ready to commit to such a long musical. I'm not to that point yet), so I let the internet inspire me. In spite of it being a Disney production, I ended up watching Newsies because I was very curious to see Christian Bale in such a different kind of movie. 

The film is set in 1899 in New York City and focuses on the newsies aka young boys who sell papers. When publisher Joseph Pulitzer (Robert Duvall) raises the distribution price one-tenth of a cent per paper, the already poor newsboys feel outraged and, led by the voice of the group, Jack Kelly (Christian Bale), and the head of the group, David Jacobs (David Moscow), they go on a strike. 

I don't think I need to tell you how the story goes because this is Disney and we all know they like to sugar coat everything. And that's exactly what happened here, they took an interesting, compelling true story and they turned it into some sort of fairy tale with a happy ending. Another of the problems is that the intriguing plot unfolds in a two-hour running time and it gets heavy. 

In spite of that, Newsies still manages to be a little enjoyable and that's mainly because of the characters. While it's hard to keep in mind everyone's name as there are a lot of characters in the film, most of them are very likeable and lovable, and, as the relationships between them grow, we begin to get involved into their story and care about them.

The fact that the cast does an overall good job deserves most of the credits for this. As usual though there are a few standouts. Christian Bale really shines as Jack Kelly as he showcases his acting, dancing and singing abilities. Also, he pulls off the New York accent pretty well. Bill Pullman is wonderful as Bryan Denton, the reporter who helps the newsies in their strike. His singing, however, is not that good. At last, Robert Duvall is very good as Joseph Pulitzer and makes for a pretty good villain.

Buena Vista Pictures

As for the songs, overall they are good, but some are so similar it's hard to distinguish from one another and most are quite forgettable. A few though are pretty catchy and makes you want to sing along. The numbers are a bit cheesy but they are nicely choreographed.