Moulin Rouge Plays Like a Dream

By Teddy Durgin
OK, now I don't usually get caught up in tabloid rumors and Hollywood gossip. No one on the "outside" really knows why Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise broke up. After seeing Moulin Rouge (opening nationwide June 1), I can only say this. I sincerely HOPE that at least one of those tabloid rumors is true! I'm not going to repeat them here. I'm sure most of you know the innuendo of which I speak. If any one of the rumors is true, then ... yeah, sure. Divorce is the right course of action. Be adults about it, and move on.

HOWEVER, my fear is that The Breakup is over some ticky-tack crap like:

NICOLE: Tom, what did I tell you about putting your beer bottle down on the coffee table? It's going to leave a ring!

TOM: I am Tom Freaking Cruise! I have starred in some of the biggest movie blockbusters of all time! I have been nominated for three Academy Awards! I will put my bottle of Milwaukee's Best down on any table I please! I want a divorce!

Or maybe this is what happened:

NICOLE: Tom, what did I tell you about leaving the toilet seat up. I almost fell in last night!

TOM: I am Tom Freaking Cruise! My last five movies have made over $1 billion at the U.S. box office alone! Perhaps you have
heard of some of them? Mission: Impossible 2? Jerry Friggin' Maguire? If I want to leave the toilet seat up in my mansion, I will do so. I want a divorce!

I hope that it didn't go down like that. Not after seeing the soon-to-be ex-Mrs. Cruise in Moulin Rouge. Do you know how much nagging I would put up with just to lie down beside that exquisite creature each night? I'm talking about Nicole, by the way, not Tom.

Nicole, honey. I don't drink beer, I believe in using coasters to preserve the finish of fine furniture, and I have amazing aim Sure, I make a mere pittance compared to Mr. Teeth. Sure, my last five films have not done boffo box office. Actually, I haven't made five films. I was an extra once! Does that count?

Consider the rest of this review an open love letter to one, Nicole Kidman.

Dearest one,

You light up the screen in the new Moulin Rouge, the best film I have seen so far this year. And it's not just your luminous presence, your flowing red hair, milky white skin, and (surprisingly) fantastic singing voice that has elevated this movie above all others in 2001. It is so much more.

It is your co-star, Ewan McGregor, perfectly matched opposite you in both acting and singing range. It's the crazy, insane direction of Baz Luhrmann, who has made a spectacle that truly dazzles the eyes and transports the soul. It's the jam-packed production design of Catherine Martin, who brings Luhrmann's vision to the big screen in vivid, three-dimensional colors and images. It's the breathless cinematography of Donald McAlpine, who swoops and dives through setpiece after setpiece like the planes of Pearl Harbor on a bombing run.

It's the whole package, Nicole.

You're the whole package. You have never been better in a movie before. The camera loves you. The first time we see your character, Satine, is your signature moment. Being lowered from the rafters, high above the Moulin Rouge nightclub in Paris, circa 1900. The whole movie stops for your entrance. As Christian, the struggling writer hired to pen a musical that will save the Moulin Rouge, McGregor is instantly smitten. Any guy in the audience can identify. A love story soon begins, full of passion and majesty. It's the kind of story where characters feel so strongly toward one another, they can't help but burst into song.

Someone else is also smitten, the mustache-twirling Duke of Worcester (Richard Roxburgh, hitting his one note just right) who Satine's boss, Zidler (Jim Broadbent), has brought in to invest in the new show and save the club. As Satine, you are promised to him in body and soul.

Nicole, have I mentioned that I would love to invest in your next movie?

I digress.

The fact that this new film of yours was filmed completely indoors is too impressive for words. The digital effects that bring a storybook Paris of a century ago alive are a wonder to behold. Moulin Rouge not only recalls the classic Hollywood musicals of yesteryear, it also throws in inspirations gleaned from the rock operas of the '70s, the music videos of the '80s and '90s, and the great Disney films of all time. Luhrmann throws a lot of things at the viewer. For those who can take only so much visual stimuli, they may want to stay away. For those whose eyes can dance the dance, prepare to fall into a trance-like state for two hours.

Nicole, how is it that audiences are charged the same amount for a film like yours and dreck like Freddy Got Fingered and Joe Dirt? If anyone paid $8 and saw either of those two pictures, here is your chance to make your money back, plus some.

Moulin Rouge follows two other recent movies, A Knight's Tale and Shrek, that use contemporary songs outside of their time periods to help tell their stories. In the case of Moulin Rouge, the songs are extensions of the characters. The use of such pop tunes as Madonna'sMaterial Girl, Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit, and Elton John's Your Song are not only good for a chuckle, they not only pull today's audiences into the story, they are celebrations of creative inspiration. They will not date the film. They will become the film.

But I'm not telling you anything new, Nicole. To your credit and the credit of the rest of the cast, you have placed your trust in the capable hands of Baz Luhrmann. While I disagree with his choice to show the ending of Moulin Rouge at the beginning (I much rather had gone through the whole movie not knowing how and where Christian ended up), I cannot argue with Luhrmann's desire to give the audience The Big Show. As he showed with Strictly Ballroom and William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet, he is a filmmaker capable of taking subject matter that might not be accessible to mainstream audiences, and showing us that material in a new and exciting light-or at least while we are watching it, it feels new and exciting.

This might be in poor taste, Nicole. But with your divorce, you may now be more free to move in a new and exciting light. If the Moulin Rouge taught you anything, it's both the risks and rewards of trying something different. Nicole, I'm new. I'm different.

And did I mention that I believe in using coasters?