LES MISERABLES: Exposition of Christian Virtues at Its Core

With complete sympathy for the almost dying Fantine, Valjean pulled out all the stops to recover Cosette from the cunning, scheming Thenardiers, and to see Cosette grow into a fine young lady (Amanda Seyfried); while Javert continued his obsessive quest to bring Valjean back to prison.

More than 60 million people around the world have seen at least one production of the stage musical, produced by British theater impresario Cameron Mackintosh, that could translate to a captured audience that would buy a movie ticket and check out Jackman, Crowe, Hathaway, Cohen, Carter et. al's highly publicized live singing (by the way, Crowe lacks the vocal chops and wears a poker face to be taken seriously as the antagonist Javert) and these A-list actors' take on Hugo's well-drawn characters; or would probably revisit the musical's most endearing show tunes, "I Dreamed a Dream," "On My Own," and "Do You Hear the People Sing?" among others.

Jackman and Hathaway's Golden Globe-worthy nominated performances would pull the viewers' heartstrings. However, integral to those emotionally-charged performances, including Redmayne and Samantha Barks' (Eponine, daughter of the Thenardiers), were, again, more Christian themes such as love in various forms (spiritual, maternal, and paternal, among others), morality, and salvation that would touch even the non-believers, no less; but would much more resonate among the religious individuals in the audience.

On the surface, "Les Miserables" can move one to tears because of its characters' intertwined melodramatic destinies, poignant songs with ear-shattering crescendos, and bittersweet denouement.

On a deeper level, the film can also be deemed a Christian movie in disguise, which may come off as too preachy and tacky to some.

Working Title/Cameron Mackintosh's movie adaptation of the mega-musical "Les Miserables" opens across the Philippines today, January 16.

Photos by The Telegraph, BWW Newsdesk

Oliver is completing his M.S. degree in public relations and corporate communication at New York University while squeezing in some time to edit, write, and take photographs for the theater news website BroadwayWorld.com -- his beat mostly covers Broadway shows, especially those that feature Filipino-American artists, and theater goings-on back in his home country, the Philippines. Oliver also handles public relations and corporate communication for numerous brands (including Pepsi), Broadway shows, Broadway stars, non-profit organizations, and mainstream celebrities; and teaches public relations at De La Salle University in Manila. Special thanks to Oliver's amazing team in the Philippines: Jeffrey Aguiman, Dale Bacar, Jude Cartalaba, Precious Lee Cundangan, Jory Rivera, and JR Sala. Follow Oliver on Twitter: @OliverOliveros