Coming into this film I expected an absolute piece of crap. I had to be dragged into it, by a girlfriend who often doesn’t know better than me in all my cynicism, but this time did. I expected a fluff piece of chick humor with a few embellished songs, from the previews I’d seen.

Instead, I was crying by the second act.

Okay, here you go, guys. Here’s my official seal of manhood. I’m still going on. I don’t care.

I’m a sucker for romance (real romance, not a guy buying girl crap, but love based in idealism, not gifts), music, poetry, bohemia, and well executed pace. This is not found in the movies where a guy meets a girl, half way in the middle the girl perceives some slight that isn’t real, and then eventually realizes the slight isn’t real and decides to tolerate the guy.

This is found in a movie that starts with the girl dead and the guy drunk and then shows you how despite an idealistic and courtly love the girl is systematically removed from the man and then dies. This is a tragedy, and it’s told with a giddy sense of the future. Yes, death is coming, but let’s celebrate the love.

The soundtrack takes you by surprise, and that’s what made me cry. If you’d a lover of music, and if you’ve heard every song over and over again about love and affection in some desperate attempt to come to terms with who you are as a lover, as a man, they take the thematic elements of all of the cheesy and horrible songs and make them epic as lines of dialogue or little snippets of motivation. It’s masterful, I’ve never seen it done in a movie before, and I hope it is done again, and soon.

Toulouse is also a favorite historical figure for me. The man too ugly to be loved, destined for obscurity, but pressing on for art. Leguizamo really proved himself as an actor for me with this one.

All in all, a great tale of forbidden love meeting tragedy hidden behind a chick flick. Amazing.

There are a few moments where, to be flashy, the movie dwells on the costumes and scenery. They are brief, and they pass well.

Baz may have failed to impress me with "Romeo and Juliet" beyond three stars, but there are few musicals out there that can keep my attention, and few romantic comedies that end in tragedy. For this alone, "Moulin Rouge" is unique.

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