Live in the States long enough, stand in enough movie theater lines, buy into enough of the Hollywood and People magazine hype, and there are some things that you just come to expect. Ren
e Zellweger is the cute, sort of lispy blond who well, completes Tom Cruise in "Jerry McGuire." Think back a little further and she's the music vamp having sex with Rex Manning on the copy machine in "Empire Records." Catherine Zeta-Jones is the fiery vixen snapping her whip in "The Mask of Zorro," or she's simply the loving and much-younger wife of Michael Douglas. And Richard Gere
he's the one climbing up the fire escape to play prince to Julia Roberts' imprisoned princess. Some things are just expected, easy even. And then some things, like the "Chicago" soundtrack, break through our bored American boundaries.
The stars beneath the big white Hollywood letters -- namely Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor in "Moulin Rouge" -- proved last year that they could sing as well as act. And here they go again, disproving with "Chicago" the age-old theory that Hollywood stars have little more to offer than their faces or their names.
By this point, the story line of the film itself has become at least somewhat integrated into our culture. It should be, considering that Bob Fosse's Broadway version opened in 1973 and the script has floated from studio to studio ever since. Velma Kelly (Catherine Zeta-Jones) is behind bars for killing her adulterous sister and husband. Sexy and previously known only for her vaudeville acts, she becomes a headline star when she obtains the legal services of Billy Flynn (Richard Gere). Roxie Hart (Ren
e Zellweger) is a small-time chorus dancer in her own right, but after she murders her lover in cold blood, she craves the newspaper stardom that only Flynn can provide. Behind bars, the two ladies become every male's fantasy: beautiful and sexy vixens battling it out for supremacy
and singing their way there.
And here's where the soundtrack comes in. Put a vaudeville actress together with a chorus girl and you've got a sure-fire combination for music. And of course there are the endless hours behind bars for
.singing?
The Broadway musical has its own soundtrack and has since the original 1973 cast. And yes, many of the songs are the same (with some new ones from the 2002 movie and some that are only included in the Broadway version). But here's the difference -- you're listening to a Hollywood star's non-dubbed singing voice and musical rendition of the classic songs. And so there's a difference between a trained Broadway singer -- singing what legions of others have been belting out for 30 years -- and a Hollywood star with a fresh (if untrained) voice and a new perspective.
"Funny Honey," the second track on the album, catches Zellweger at her most sultry, in an ode to her loving husband Amos. "Roxie," her second opus of the album, catches a faster and almost conceited note, forcing her name into the mouths and minds of listeners: "They're gonna recognize my hair, my eyes, my teeth, my boobs, my nose." Sultry little giggle included. Most impressive of all, Zellweger achieves an indefinable 1920s tone in her voice, pulling off the sound of a believable chorus girl from the age. It's edgy and soft at the same time -- the flapper who can wear fishnets and murder a lover, and yet not entirely bob her soft blond curls.
"Class," a track left out of the movie itself, perfectly encapsulates the soulful, deeper notes of Zeta-Jones. Harmonizing with Queen Latifah, Zeta-Jones hits the high notes along with the low reaches, creating something that comes across as much more thoughtful and intense than Zellweger's trilling. Not necessarily better, but different, Zeta-Jones manages to color her songs and voice with the same class and culture as her person.
And Gere as Billy Flynn
he's darn near unrecognizable as the sleezy-voiced, New York-accented lawyer. Gone is the polished class and education; here you hear the 1920s tabloid in his voice. Songs like "We Both Reached for the Gun" and "All I Care About" show Gere at his best -- the theater actor/singer that he was long before his Hollywood days.
So those are the big three: Hollywood stars who are creating their own voice in "Chicago." But again, the supporting voices are incredible. Queen Latifah, as Mama Morgan, "the keeper of the keys" and "mistress of murderer's row," is pitch-perfect. Funky beat, expertly timed pauses and a growl -- her theme song hits some of the dark humor in the plot. The Cell Block Girls (Susan Misner, Deidre Goodwin, Denise Faye and Ekaterina Chtchelkanova) come in alongside Zeta-Jones for "Cell Block Tango," one of the biggest hits on the album. Explaining their reasons for murder, they come out with slang, bodily noises and the sound of orgasms -- I guess there's emotion in murder. It's harsh and witty at the same time, the note of humor that the show is trying to reach.
Boundaries broken. Effect achieved. No longer is "Chicago" simply Bob Fosse's show, running on Broadway for a generation. And no longer are Zellweger, Zeta-Jones and Gere the Hollywood stars on the big screen. Something striking and new like this? It's worth killing for.
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