Movie Review: Hamilton

Hamilton

Director: Thomas Kail

Starring: Lin-Manuel Miranda, Leslie Odom Jr., Daveed Diggs, Phillipa Soo, Renée Elise Goldsberry

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 160 minutes

I would like to preface this review by saying that I am not the biggest fan of musicals. Hamilton is one that I have heard about for years, and with a live recording of the musical coming to Disney+, I decided to give it a shot. What I found was a fascinating, engaging, and enchanting show that I can’t stop thinking about.

If you somehow haven’t heard of Hamilton, it is a Broadway musical that became a cultural phenomenon in 2015. This is largely due to its soundtrack, which tells the tale of U.S. Founding Father Alexander Hamilton through the medium of rap, hip-hop, R&B, and soul. It comes across as humorous and silly at first, seeing historical figures from the late 1700’s rapping, but it quickly pulls you in and soon feels completely normal.

I never listened to the soundtrack before watching this, so I went in completely blind and experienced these songs for the first time. The first thing to know about the music in Hamilton is that it is almost completely non-stop. The soundtrack is just a few minutes shorter than the whole musical, clocking in at a whopping 46 tracks. Every song here was written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, who also plays the lead role, which is nothing shy of an incredible feat of creativity and talent.

Each song presents the next piece of the story through singing or rapping. These songs all flow together incredibly well, to the point where I find it hard to stop watching once I start. It’s a ride from start to finish, with the intermission in the middle giving you the only time to breathe.

The performances, by everyone involved, are stellar. They are all able to express so much emotion through song while also singing in unique ways from each other. The jealousy of Aaron Burr, the kindness of Eliza Schuyler, the flamboyance of King George III; these characters all feel so varied and they all get their moments to shine.

Something that I assume is common in theater but not necessarily in film is having actors play multiple roles. Several actors do this throughout the musical, but the most impressive in my opinion has to be Daveed Diggs. He plays the determined, fast-speaking Frenchman Lafayette in the first act of the play, and then the sassy, eccentric Thomas Jefferson in the second act. Both of these characters are scene-stealers, and Diggs plays both roles expertly.

The editing is fantastic, working to show close-ups of the actors’ emotions along with the grand production going on around them. Several performances of the musical were stitched together, along with some moments filmed later in closeup, to capture the best performances from everyone. The camera angles let you see the stage-movers and the lights and even the audience’s silhouettes. The film makes it clear that everything is happening live.

It almost doesn’t feel right calling Hamilton a film. Hamilton focuses less on film production and instead lets the music speak for itself. It never tries to hide the fact that it’s a theatrical production being performed to a live crowd. What results is the feeling that you are really in the room where it happened. The abundance of catchy songs and powerful performances make Hamilton a must-see if you enjoy musicals, and maybe even if you don’t.