Arts & Entertainment
'Glee: The 3D Concert Movie' Sanitizes Stars
Glorified big-screen advertisement for hit show preaches to the choir.
“Please, save your money,” begged cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) in the trailers for Glee: The 3D Concert Movie. “This thing sucks.” Turns out Sue’s words weren’t far from the truth.
Though I wouldn’t go so far as to say the film “sucks,” it isn’t worth the inflated price of admission. Unlike Michael Jackson’s posthumous documentary, This Is It, this feature-length advertisement for the Fox Network’s hit show doesn’t seem like it will extend past its limited two-week engagement in theaters.
Though I’ll confess that I’m not an avid watcher of Glee, I was fortunate enough to catch its promising pilot back in 2009. The show’s exuberant spirit and impassioned championing of arts programs immediately reminded me of my own extraordinarily positive experiences in high school theater.
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It wasn’t until I had gained enough distance from those years that I realized the all-inclusive drama club was as much of a clique as anything else, where teenagers sought acceptance by playing roles both on and off the stage.
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This less-than-inspiring aspect of “gleek” clubs tends to get glossed over on television, though Glee is certainly not a sanitized portrayal of adolescence a la High School Musical. Creators Ryan Murphy, Ian Brennan and Brad Falchuk have sought to break ground in their honest exploration of teenage relationships, particularly in the case of gay teen Kurt, played with beguiling charisma by Chris Colfer. The subplot in which he comes out to his father was modern television of the highest caliber.
The other acclaimed breakout star of Glee is the spectacularly funny Lynch, and her exclusion from this film is a grave misstep. Her marvelously oddball, semi-improvised riffs are what keep many viewers coming back for more.
I’ve been waiting nearly a decade for Lynch to acquire the stardom she deserves ever since I witnessed her uproarious performance in Christopher Guest’s 2000 comic masterpiece, Best in Show. That film provided my drama club with a textbook example of how spontaneous comedic dialogue is often much funnier than scripted banter.
If there’s anything conspicuously lacking from this 3D Concert Movie, it’s spontaneity. In slickly edited footage from this year’s Glee Live Tour, the young ensemble members charge onto the stage not as the endearing individuals fans have grown to love, but as perky corporate entities devoid of acne or personality.
Director Kevin Tancheroen (best known for 2009’s mediocre Fame remake), juxtaposes the concert’s “greatest hits” list of tunes with fan vignettes that possess little more substance than standard commercial testimonials.
What’s worse is the wholly unnecessary 3D effects, which are simply an eyestrain that detracts from Glen MacPherson’s admittedly impressive camerawork and the cast’s uniformly superb singing performances. Colfer’s screen time is disappointingly brief, allowing him only enough time to sing an abridged version of “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” The Beatles classic that Kurt originally sang to his father in one of the show’s most unforgettable moments.
Of course, Colfer and Lynch’s immense popularity have caused many of their co-stars to remain overlooked by the mainstream public, and this film gives the other actors ample opportunities to shine.
Lea Michele’s eyes well up with tears prior to belting out a smashing rendition of “Don’t Rain on My Parade” before an audience that includes an unseen Barbra Streisand. After garnering parental outrage for her scantily clad attire, Heather Morris places her 3D cleavage on full display in a number that stretches the boundaries of PG-rated hotness.
Other notable showstoppers are delivered by Amber Riley, Naya Rivera and Team StarKid co-creator-turned-Colfer BF Darren Criss. The film’s most memorable fan is a 4-year-old boy who has memorized Criss and Colfer’s songs and is seen lip-synching and dancing to his favorite episode (viewers enticed to see his complete performance are advised to stay through the end credits).
Yet for all the show’s oft-preached messages of conviction, Glee seems all too eager to conform to the popular songs of the day. Instead of developing its own voice by creating original songs, the series usually sticks to performing old covers and trendy tunes for no conceivable reason other than to assist in selling records.
It wasn’t until last March that Glee started premiering original music, and the rousing “Loser Like Me” is certainly a step in the right direction. Hopefully the next Glee film will allow its young stars to act less like product pushers and more like the remarkably gifted and grounded performers who have made the franchise a success in the first place.
Glee: The 3D Concert Movie opened Aug. 12 at the AMC Showplace Village Crossing 18 and Regal Gardens 1-6 in Skokie. It fell short of cracking the Top 10 during its inaugural weekend, opening at No. 11 with $5.7 million in ticket sales, according to Box Office Mojo. The movie is rated PG.
