Making his directorial bow, choreographer Kenny Ortega strains valiantly to breathe life into this misguided musical.
Newsies (1992)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted: 22
Fresh: 7
Rotten:15
Average Rating: 4.5/10
Runtime: 2 hrs 1 min
Genre: Musical & Performing Arts
Synopsis: The 1899 New York newsboys' strike is the subject of this full-scale musical set against a stylized backdrop depicting turn-of-the-century New York City. In a series of rousing song and dance... The 1899 New York newsboys' strike is the subject of this full-scale musical set against a stylized backdrop depicting turn-of-the-century New York City. In a series of rousing song and dance routines, choreographer/director Kenny Ortega chronicles the "newsies'" struggle with publishing mogul Joseph Pulitzer, their battering at the hands of strikebreakers, and their eventual triumph over the powerful newspaper establishment. [More]
Starring: Robert Duvall, Ann-Margret, Michael Lerner, Kevin Tighe
Starring: Robert Duvall, Ann-Margret, Michael Lerner, Kevin Tighe, Bill Pullman, Charles Cioffi, Christian Bale, David Moscow, Luke Edwards, Max Casella, Jo Ann Harris, Ele Keats
Director: Kenny Ortega
Director: Kenny Ortega
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Release:
Jan 15, 2002
Reviews for Newsies
The writers have created cardboard cutouts instead of flesh-and-blood characters.
It's a bit of a throwback and a solid family film and, at the time, represented a well-intentioned leap of faith of the sort that studios rarely take.
If you have a soft spot for feisty, back-talking bambini with cute squints, backwards caps and names like Crutchy, Dutchy and Bumlets, your heart will melt.
If the crick in my neck is any indication, I watched Kenny Ortega's Newsies like a dog hears a new sound. Most probably, my eyebrow was also arched.
People need heroes and uplifting tales, I suppose, but why alter history to give them to the masses?
If there were 10 other musicals in the past few years for comparison, I'm not sure where Newsies would place. But as it is, this is the only game in town — and it's quite entertaining most of the way.
Its intentions seem fairly modest, and so are its achievements. It's a modestly enjoyable diversion.
This is primarily a children's movie and I have a hard time working up much rancor against a movie as campily perverse as this one is. I sat through the whole thing in open-mouthed wonder.
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