Moulin Rouge! (2001)

Baz Luhrmann's genius oeuvre, Moulin Rouge, is a tour-de-force of musical synergy and whimsy. It conveys power and delight through original arrangements of anachronistic pop hits -- all wrapped around a musical package called (as the story within the story) Spectacular Spectacular. Not only does Moulin Rouge turn every narrative convention you'd expect on its ear, it's incredibly fun -- and who knew Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor could sing like that? (Their secret lovers' song "Come What May" is soaringly and unforgettably romantic.) Our story begins (as McGregor's Christian narrates his own tale) when a "penniless writer" in turn-of-the-century Montmarte aspires to lyrically celebrate "the Bohemian values of freedom, truth, and love" (a phrase I now cannot think of without hearing John Leguizamo's Toulouse-Lautrec pronouncing it as "fweedom, twooth, and lwuv"). Through a comedy of errors, Christian happens upon a Bohemian acting troupe that needs a writer. He is introduced to the courteMoviettesan Satine (Kidman) while she expects to shower her favors on a rich investor in the Moulin Rouge and her career. The pair falls in love and, under the pretext of preparing the musical production, hides their secret dalliance from the slimy investor (Richard Roxburgh). Harold Zidler (Jim Broadbent), the unctuous stage manager, puts the kibosh on Satine's romance before the investor discovers the truth and sets his thug in motion. Will love endure? Will the show go on? Moulin Rouge is as wild as a menagerie (or a menage-a-trois) and its song-and-dance numbers are numerous and awesome, paying layered tribute to every vocal tradition and musical genre, from opera to rap, most notably with riffs on Mario Lanza, the Beatles, Bollywood, Elton John, Sting, Madonna, and Lady Marmalade. Here is a great musical production within a musical production, irreverent as well as eclectic, and so much fun you'll probably say after it ends "Now *that* was different!" or "Let's watch it again!" (or both). 5 stars.