Moulin Rouge | Full Movie | Movies Anywhere

Where Luhrmann's film needs to seduce us, it can only get in our face and -- like a bad drunk -- bellow, "Love me, love me, love me!" In the end, there's not one honest, heartfelt moment in this entire tarty, phony valentine.

Kidman and McGregor sparkle together; some songs enchant, a fine supporting cast give us some laughs, but it's not enough. There is nothing to savour, to reflect on. It's a film where style is in search of an idea.

Moulin Rouge doesn't quite live up to its hype, but it is far more artistic than three-fourths of the films released each year.

It raises the bar on what a musical can be. And, in fact, on what movies can be.

It takes a big cinematic appetite to enjoy a magnificent gumbo of movie styles -- old-fashioned musical, techno-rave rock show, open-eyed romance, slapstick farce, tragic drama -- in a gorgeous spectacle that moves at speed.