Guilty Pleasures: Newsies (1992)

Newsies

1992

Let’s face it: musicals are the ultimate guilty pleasure. The dialogue is always cheesy and the plot is generally sacrificed for campy song-and-dance numbers every 15 to 20 minutes. And Newsies is no exception — which is exactly why I love it.

Because before Troy Bolton and the Wildcats won my heart in High School Musical, there was Jack Kelly (Christian Bale, his voice a-crackin’, in a role he probably wishes we’d all forget) and his ragtag band of newsboys. When the price of newspapers is raised one-tenth of a cent, Jack — who has obviously been reading Das Kapital — leads his army of street urchins in a strike against the newspaper giants. And make no mistake: these kids are going to win you over with the power of music. Seriously, every time they break out in an inspiring song about the greed of The Man, I can’t help but wonder why they don’t abandon their efforts and move to Vaudeville. Add to that pointless cameos from Ann-Margaret and Robert Duvall, and you’ve got two hours of musical clichés that guarantee you’ll find Newsies irresistible.

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