More Moulin Rouge

Yes, more. I can't help myself... I was raised on the early days of MTV, and I still believe that too much is never enough.

Sonal pointed out this review of MR to me today. I will quote the parts I like best:

Ewan McGregor, the just-turned-30 Scottish actor who stars in Moulin Rouge, sometimes comes off as all-too-tragically hip.

In edgy fare such as Trainspotting and Shallow Grave, McGregor seemed talented but possibly a tad too cool for his own good. And even as the young Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace, he appeared to be holding back, as if he were leaving his options open.

But his latest movie is a musical -- a musical about star-crossed lovers, set in the Paris of 1899 and co-starring Nicole Kidman. And as its struggling-writer hero, McGregor is required to sing such songs as Elton John's "Your Song," Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You," Sting's "Roxanne" and even a bit of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "The Sound of Music."

You don't hold back on songs like these. You either give them your whole heart or you're lost.

McGregor meets the challenge by committing to the film as he has never committed to a film before. His ardent eyes and hungry mouth are always before us, and his strong, slightly dusty voice makes his songs seem newly inspired.

Although McGregor has appeared physically naked in some of his earlier films, he has never been as emotionally naked as he is, fully dressed, in Moulin Rouge. He opens himself up to us, and what he reveals turns out to be almost alarmingly charming.

Even in scenes where he doesn't sing, the power of his musical numbers carries over, filling his work with a previously untapped passion...

In the end, this is Ewan McGregor's show. It could, in fact, be a career-changing film.

Musicals are out-of-fashion, so McGregor may not have many other chances to sing onscreen. But if he can find a way to find the sort of passion in nonmusical roles that he does here, who knows how far he'll go?

Basically, he just needs to keep a song in his heart.