Chicago: 2002

So musicals made a return in 2002 when Chicago won Best Picture (it won 6 awards altogether). What was a pleasant surprise to me was it wasn't a long musical. The film is about an hour and a half long. Now that hour and a half has a lot of songs in it, so despite that short run time, they really do pack in the singing and dancing.

The film seemed more of a celebration of the stage and jazz age than telling a story. A plot is present, but it's simple: Roxie Hart kills her lover, goes to jail, and then becomes famous because of her lawyer's quest to get a guilty woman free. Instead of developing Roxie's character (she remains shallow, which seems appropriate given what she did), the film creates big song and dance numbers that are stunning even on the small screen. My favorite was the ventriloquist act:

Renee Zellweger's timing in this scene is spot on. Richard Gere's charisma oozes from the screen in all its smarmy glory. What he lacks as a singer he makes up for in personality for sure. 

My other surprise favorite part of the movie is the reporter Mary Sunshine (what a great name). Played by Christine Baranski, the reporter delivers a play-by-play of the trial at the end. Baranski plays the character as journalist who is out for the most sensational story she can find, and as she reports, her voice captures the scandal of what unfolds in the trial. It's fun to have a woman reporting on murderesses, as Mary Sunshine is also there for other press conferences and at the jail where all the women are awaiting trial. Between Mary Sunshine and Mama (Queen Latifah) the matron of the women's jail, it's clear that women are in control in this story.

Chicago was fun. Visually it certainly deserved an Oscar. And having women in strong roles makes its win even better.