While I certainly don’t view myself as a film critic and most of you will thank me for refraining from commenting on films in general, I want to take a moment to encourage you to see Les Miserables. 

The Victor Hugo novel is, in my largely irrelevant view, the greatest work of fiction ever. I’ve never felt that any production of Les Mis that I’ve seen has ever lived up to the novel–until now. The production, the music and the actors all came together perfectly to capture in a relatively brief time the full emotional impact of the novel.

The point of the story seems to me to be that we are all human, all fallible and all capable of change, of becoming something better–much better–than we are today. 

The story makes clear that we become better by putting aside our selfish interests in service of others. In fact, Jean Valjean is heroic because he renders service specifically in direct conflict with his apparent self interest.

I came away from the movie as excited as I’ve been in months to focus my time and energy in service to others. Like you, I still have to make a living, but I will try to make service to others a higher priority in 2013.