This week, Jared Bowen reviewed "CATS" at the Citizens Bank Opera House and the films “1917” and “Just Mercy.”
“CATS,” presented by Broadway in Boston at the Citizens Bank Opera House through January 19
Boston’s musical theater-goers can get their feline fix at the Citizens Bank Opera House with “CATS” the musical. The seven-time Tony Award-winning show with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber tells the story of a litter of Jellicle cats all gathering to see which of them gets the chance to be reborn. Fans new and old can experience Grizabella, Mr. Mistoffelees, and all their favorite cats in this popular musical.
“There’s lots of razzle dazzle here with some very good singing and dancing, and the show oddly compels for how strange it is,” said Jared. “But CATS hasn’t aged well and might be near the end of its nine lives.”
“1917,” in theaters now
Embark on a perilous journey through the front lines of World War I in the epic, new film “1917.” Directed by Oscar-winner Sam Mendes, this film focuses on the young British Lance Corporals Schofield and Blake as they race to hand-deliver orders calling off an attack that could result in a massacre of British troops, including Blake’s own brother. The film unfolds as one single shot, delivering audiences the same fraught vantage point as the characters they follow.
Jared described “1917” as “Hugely absorbing filmmaking” that gives audiences “a palpable second by second perspective in and then out of the trenches.”
“Just Mercy,” in theaters now
The inspiring true story of acclaimed lawyer and social justice advocate Bryan Stevenson is the subject of “Just Mercy.” Michael B. Jordan stars as the fresh-out-of-law-school Stevenson, who leaves Harvard for Alabama to defend those who’ve been wrongly convicted of crimes or unfairly represented, including death-row prisoner Walter McMillian (Jaime Foxx). Watch Stevenson overcome the bureaucracy and overt racism of the criminal justice system in this film directed by Destin Daniel Cretton
“The real life Brian Stevenson is a hero walking among us,” Jared said. “Here, we get a sliver of his equal justice efforts and as interesting as the film is, it doesn’t reach the level of inspiration the man himself does.”
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