I'm not one to usually comment on a film after watching it, I rarely do so. But I felt compelled to make a response to all the positive commentary on IMDb regarding Les Miserables.<br /><br />For one thing, the acting was mediocre save for that of Geoffrey Rush and furthermore, the script was blunt and unimaginative.<br /><br />Most importantly, I am sick of hearing people saying that we shouldn't compare a film adaptation to the original text. When a director/producer has utilized a well-known and much-loved epic such as Les Mis, they are already working on the goodwill produced by the original. They cannot conjure a weak excuse of a job then claim that it shouldn't be compared to the original. They could have simply changed the name (as Clueless did to the original 'Emma' by Jane Austen). Directors should not be allowed to get away with hijacking a masterpiece such as Les Mis without the necessary criticism when they do not produce something truthful to the text.<br /><br />I was very disappointed in this movie as not only did it leave out important sections of the text, it was filmed in a manner that made it into a regular Hollywood police-chase-action film rather than the subtle encounters that glued the story together in the text. A narrative similar to that of 'Crash' and 'Magnolia' would have suited Les Mis much better.<br /><br />Overall, utterly disappointing.