Crowe acquits himself best in “Javert’s Suicide,” as the tremulous quality of his voice when he’s pushed to the edges of his range works in harmony with his character’s uncertainty - and to his credit, he nails his high notes. It makes Javert’s eventual crisis and breakdown particularly compelling. The rugged quality of Crowe’s voice makes Javert a little more vulnerable from the start of the film - he’s intimidating more because he’s a big guy with rough edges, and less because he possesses the kind of laser precision that Mann brings to the part. Photo: Universal Picturesīut a strange choice doesn’t mean a bad choice. Russell Crowe as Javert in Les Misérables. Their voices are clearly distinguishable from each other, but all of them possess a broad, open quality, unburdened by the gravelliness of Crowe’s voice. Listening to previous well-known Javerts - Roger Allam, Terrence Mann, Philip Quast, Norm Lewis - makes that distinction clear. His voice is a little gruff, rather than clarion in the way that’s generally expected on Broadway. If anything, it’s Hugh Jackman’s performance as Jean Valjean that isn’t up to snuff.Ĭrowe is admittedly a strange choice to star in a musical. Now that the film is available to stream on Netflix, it seems like the perfect time to revisit Crowe’s stab at starring in a musical.įor all the backlash that followed him at the time, Russell Crowe’s turn as Javert is a commendable, compelling effort. That in turn makes it almost eight years since Russell Crowe’s performance as Les Mis antagonist Inspector Javert made such a negative impression that Crowe was forced to defend his singing chops on social media. It’s been almost eight years since Tom Hooper’s Les Misérables hit theaters.