The film The Greatest Showman, directed by Micheal Gracey and written by Jenny Bicks and Bill Condon, was released on January 12, 2018. It stars Hugh Jackman, Zendaya Coleman, Zac Efron, and more.

The Greatest Showman is about a man known as Pt. Barnum, who decides to chase his dreams and not allow anyone or anything to get in the way of them. As a kid, Barnum (played by Ellis Rubin), was degraded and disdained, but his charisma and strive to accomplish his goals made him closer to young Charity Barnum (played by Skylar Dunn). Years later, after marrying Charity Barnum (played by Michelle Williams), and giving birth to his 2 daughters Caroline and Helen Barnum (played by Austyn Johnson and Cameron Seely), Barnum unfortunately loses his job. Although this may have caused some financial hardships, he doesn’t allow that to be the end of his story. The loss of his job and the motivation to help his family struck the idea to start a circus, known as Barnum’s Circus, where anyone, no matter their shape, height, etc. could have a place to be themselves. The story takes place in New York City around the mid-19th century. 

The film points out the different hardships that people had to deal with around the mid-19th century, such as the lack of jobs, businesses tanking, homelessness, violence etc. The film was exceptional. The different songs each had a story to go along with them, it was well written, the story line made sense and the events were chronological. I was also very impressed by Micheal Gracey’s ability to capture Pt. Barnum’s life in a way that told his story but also made it exciting and colorful. 

The film also teaches you to have and hold onto your dreams no matter who or what gets in the way. Your dreams can become reality if you put your mind to it. It also shows you that things take time, you may not reach your goals/ dreams when you want to,but don’t give up or quit because the time will come and it’ll be worth it in the end. While each of the lessons portrayed throughout the film are important, the one that influenced me the most was to love and be thankful for what you have. It taught me that it’s okay to chase after something, but don’t focus on what you don’t have because you’ll miss out on what you do have. For example, when Pt. Barnum was so focused on the circus being a success, he missed out on his daughter’s accomplishments. 

I highly recommend this film. Not only did I learn a few lessons from it, but I enjoyed every minute of it. In this day and age, it’s hard to find films that’ll entertain and inform you, but The Greatest Showman does both.