I love musicals. I like Hugh Jackman and Zendaya. I went into this movie hopeful. Sadly, it's just not good.

My number one problem is the music. A few of the songs were decently written and catchy, but the real issue is how overly-processed all of the singing is. Some of these people have sung professionally - surely they don't need this much autotune. And for the ones that aren't professional singers...it's a musical, why did you hire them. "This is Me" is the song that really took off when this movie was released, and for the life of me I can't see why. It's easily the most soulless, factory-produced piece of plastic pop music in the whole movie.

The story is another problem: there is essentially no conflict. A guy wants to start a circus. He does. The end. What's concerning is that real historical aspects of P. T. Barnum are brushed aside to make him more likable. He wasn't a nice guy. Why not make a movie about that? It'd be infinitely more interesting than what's here.

I know a lot of people really like this. I'm not trying to take that away from anyone who likes it. This just isn't good in my opinion. (Also, the Golden Globes nominating this for so many awards is insulting.)