Russell Crowe hails epic Les Miserables

Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Hugh Jackman and Amanda Seyfried arrive on the red carpet for the World Premiere of 'Les Miserables' at a London cinema. Photo / AP

Russell Crowe has heaped praise on Les Miserables star Hugh Jackman and director Tom Hooper for their work on the "epic" film.

The Kiwi Gladiator star plays the morally bankrupt Inspector Javert in the film adaptation of the legendary musical.

He lavished praise on its star Hugh Jackman, who plays Jean Valjean, after the film's premiere in London - taking to Twitter to admit he had been overcome with emotion.

He wrote: "(I) cried in the same places again," and then added, "@realhughjackman you are wonderful in this role."

"Oh London, sometimes I just love you unreasonably. Fantastic night last night, all class. Thank you very much," he tweeted.

Director Tom Hooper revealed hearing Crowe's praise for the film was one of his proudest moments since finishing editing.

"He was so warm about it and so happy. He kept saying, 'It's so epic, Tom,' and I was thinking, 'Bloody hell, Russell, you've done some epic films in your life!' So for Russell to say it was really epic, I felt very pleased about."

Hooper said the film had been better-received by media, cast and crew than his Oscar-winning effort The King's Speech.

"There was applause 12 to 14 more times during the film, which I've never experienced.

"With The King's Speech, people would clap once he (Colin Firth) successfully made the big speech at the end, and I remember thinking, 'Wow, how surreal.' So this was just insane."

Reviews for the film have ranged from ecstatic to downbeat.

Baz Bamigboye for The Daily Mail gave the film a five star review.

He said: "Les Miserables is a five-star movie musical extravaganza that hums with the spirit of Victor Hugo's classic novel and the landmark stage show upon which it's based."

However, Todd McCarthy of the influential trade paper The Hollywood Reporter said the film saw "a gallery of stellar performers wages a Sisyphean battle against musical diarrhea and a laboriously repetitive visual approach".

Les Miserables is thought to be an Oscar frontrunner, along with Zero Dark Thirty by The Hurt Locker director Kathryn Bigelow.

- Herald Online and WENN