During the New York City newsboy strike of 1899, a group of young entrepreneurial boys aim to make the world a better place for hard workers like themselves. Led by Jack Kelly (Christian Bale), the paperboys, known as Newsies, begin a movement to make working conditions, payment, and overall treatment of themselves and their fellow employees better than they have been. As the boys set out to make change, they’ll be met by some of the biggest names in the paper business, including Joseph Pullitzer (Robert Duvall). Their purpose is just, but their journey is harrowing.
Newsies is a caricature of the New York dialect and accent. There’s a divide that exists among the many cast members. On one side exists characters that speak in a typical American accent, and on the other are a number of characters that try entirely too hard to emulate the famous New York accent. This is literally the first thing that stood out to me in Newsies, and it proved impossible to overlook for the rest of the film.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: it doesn’t make any sense in musicals that all of the sudden each and every character knows the words and choreography to a song. It’s a massive turn off for me, and these moments are ones in which I’m rarely able to suspend my disbelief. Newsies follows in the footsteps of most of the musicals that come before it, and the ensemble always manages to absorb the lyrics to the songs, and interestingly enough, they know all the dance moves as well. What’s worse is that I struggled to appreciate the lyrics and the choreography. On occasion I can accept this formality as part of the process and the expected norm if the songs themselves are relevant and entertaining, but what Alan Menken (proven writer and music composer) creates here is anything but that. I never become emotionally attached to the music, and considering that this is a musical, that’s a glaring issue.
At the root of Newsies, beneath the below average music and the poor New York accents, is a compelling narrative. It’s a story about standing up for yourselves and the ones you love, a story about fighting for what’s right, and a story of teamwork and friendship. In the simplest of ways the narrative present in Newsies is enjoyable–but somewhere along the way the emotional relevance of the film’s story is lost in the shuffle of a number of other issues. A story that truly had the chance to resonate with viewers of all ages and walks of life was thrown out the window as a result of the slew of problems that exist throughout the film. The reality is that the story is still commendable, even good–separate from the inability to appropriately bring this vision to life, I actually enjoy this aspect of the film.
That was a convoluted explanation of how the story of Newsies plays out, the role it plays in the film, and how other aspects of the film affect it–but it’s all true. There are very few things that work in Newsies and a number of things that fail to entertain, that antagonize, and that simply don’t live up to expectations. While the story possesses the qualities of one that may entertain, the boring and uninteresting musical numbers, the horrific accents, and the inability of the film as a whole to reach viewers emotionally casts a shadow over it. Newsies is just downright unentertaining, and it’s safe to say that it’s one of the least intriguing Disney films that I’ve ever seen.
P.S. If I have to hear the word “papes” one more time, I think I might lose my mind.
Directed by Kenny Ortega.
Written by Bob Tzudiker & Noni White.
Starring Christian Bale, David Moscow, Luke Edwards, Max Casella, Bill Pullman, Robert Duvall, Ann-Margret, Ele Keats, etc.
⭐⭐⭐⭐½/10
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