Disclaimers first:

• I loved Les Mis when I saw it in London in 1987.
• I have owned the soundtrack since then.
• Yes, I do think Colm Wilkinson is the yardstick by which every Jean Valjean should be measured.
• I’ve only just started reading the book (I’m up to where Valjean is running to get young Cosette–that would be about 70,000 pages in).
• I majored in theatre. I love theatre. I love theatre tricks. I love theatricality. I even and occasionally like Opera.
• I have pneumonia right now. I’m pretty much bed-ridden but thought not moving for three hours at
  a movie house wouldn’t be much different from not moving in bed for three hours. It made me smile watching Fantine sound more than a little like me–also made me smile b/c I’m reading the Brontë Biographical Tome of the Century, so coughs are in my heart and soul right now.

All of that will likely color my review.
Forgive me.
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Spoilers are to be expected. I’m writing this under the assumption that you know either (a) the show, (b) the plot, (c) the music, or (d) all of the above. Skip this if you aren’t in those categories as I’ll probably blow something for you.
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I’ve seen some reviews absolutely trashing the film. They were written by folks who didn’t like the theater show. Why in the world you’d have someone review the film who hated the show is beyond me. Ignore the haters. It’s just silly writing tricks.
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So. I loved the show in 1987. I thought the theater tricks—the turntable, the bridge, the clever use of lighting—made the show rise above just-another-musical. I also love the music. I like the themes. I like the passion. It probably helped that I was 20 with all that implies.
Now, in my 40s I appreciate Hugo’s text. His descriptions—which are carried over into the show and film admirably—are lovely and generous and genius. This is particularly true when dealing with difficult characters like Javert.

But enough evasion, here’s what I think:
If you never saw the theater show but you like musicals you will very likely love this film.

• Hugh Jackman—amazing work, but not Colm Wilkinson (who did a lovely surprise turn as the Bishop, God bless him).
• Anne Hathaway—better than I’d hoped for, even after the hype. Helluva hard part. If you read the book you’ll see a lot of subtext come to bear on her interpretation and her singing. Hugo is there, though her story is quite a bit more upsetting to me in the book (which is saying something as her treatment in the show is quite upsetting).
• Russell Crowe—I felt so bad for him. I know even he said he was intimidated and I couldn’t figure out why. Now I get it. The man has a LOVELY voice, make no mistake, but his is not a musical theater voice. If that makes no sense to you, I think it will when you see the film. He’s lovely, really, he is, but the relentless baritone bulldog I recall from the theater show was not in the film. That brutality—which Crowe is totally capable of in acting—makes Javert’s end so so so sad. But it has to be present in the music and the singing to work. And it wasn’t. A lovely and wonderfully acted Javert, but the singing wasn’t up to the rest of the cast.
• The Thénardier’s—huge disappointment for me. The “Master of the House” on the London Cast album is a high point. All the subtle (and not so subtle) humor and characterization that has to be carried through this song was lost in the film. I’m not sure if it was a lack of direction, acting, singing ability, or music direction, but I felt let down. I’m quite confident I’ll be alone on that one b/c there wasn’t anything “wrong” with Sacha Baron Cohen or Helena Bonham Carter per se (they’re both “fine”) it’s that in comparison with top-notch signing/acting there was a lot missing.
• The lovers—I feel so bad for Marius and Cosette (grown up). This is the Sidney Carton/Charles Darnay/Lucy Manette problem, the “Someday My Prince Will Come” warbling-ingenue-unforgivably-difficult-part problem—how in the world can Cosette beat out Eponine (who was lovely). In our current world there really isn’t much room for a Cosette. There was. There isn’t now. All that aside, Eddie Redmayne (whose red mane was toned down a bit) and Amanda Seyfried sang better than I had expected and did all that could be done with extreme close-ups and the parts they had to play. They were inoffensive, how’s that?
• Gavroche and the Revolutionaries—I appreciated the clear and focused history lessons we got at the start of the “acts”. Americans don’t know much of this history (she types pointing at herself) and the little nuggets we got did a great job of placing these guys in time and intention. The French Revolution gets all the press, but those years past the Big Rev were fraught, too, and a lot of idealistic scholars got caught in the crossfire… quite literally.
• This part (Gavroche/Javert with Gavroche) was also the only part to make my men tear up. Me? I choked up a bunch, but then, I have pneumonia. Everything makes me weak.

Final thought: if you think you want to see it, do.
If you hate musicals, stay away (it’s really an opera).
If you loved the stage show, enjoy the long shots, but keep the London Cast Album close to your heart.

(p.s., Thing 2 adds—the movie was amazing, awesome, and so, so emotional! And yes, I took him out to the bathroom during the “Lovely Ladies” scene.)