"Newsies" (1992)

I first saw Newsies (1992) when I was a sophomore in college, almost a decade after it was released.  All my roommates had grown up watching it on the Disney Channel on cable, but we didn't have cable, so I'd missed it until then.  But I definitely knew who Christian Bale was, as Little Women (1994) was a staple of sleepovers all through my teen years.

I quickly became a fan of this movie, and made sure to rent it the next summer when I was at home so I could share it with my mom and my little brother, both of whom got a kick out of it too.  I picked it up on DVD at some point, figuring my kids would like it eventually.

None of my kids had any real interest in watching Newsies until two years ago this month, when my youngest had her first dance recital, along with many other classes from her dance studio.  One class did a tap routine to the song "King of New York" from this musical, and when I casually mentioned later that I knew what movie that was from, and we actually owned it, AND they could watch it any time... well, we didn't waste much time pulling out the DVD and watching it.

And both my daughters became completely besotted with this movie.  Not only do they know every word to every song (because, being me, we also have the soundtrack), but they know the name of basically every single minor character.  I'm not just talking the important characters, I mean they know all those random Newsies with a line or two and a funny name like Racetrack, Specs, Mush, Boots, and who knows how many others.  (My girls are at the pool right now, or I'm sure they would be feeding me a lot more of those.)

So.  I have now seen Newsies close onto a dozen times.  I know most of the songs too.  And man, is this movie one worth watching repeatedly!  I do not complain when one of them picks it as the movie of the week.  It's a feel-good movie with excellent songs, some really solid acting, great costumes and sets, and a story you can't help but get caught up in.  Newsies is inspired by the real 1899 newsboys strike in New York City, when young newspaper peddlers across the city banded together to demand better treatment and fair wages.  

In the film, this is prompted by Joseph Pulitzer (Robert Duvall) deciding he could make more money if he would raise the price the newsies pay for their papers by a dime every hundred.  He thinks it's barely noticeable, but to kids who are trying to help their families keep food on the table, or who are a step away from living on the streets, its enough to ruin their lives.

The newsies are led by "Cowboy" Jack Kelly (Christian Bale) and his new friend David (David Moscow).  Jack is a parentless teen trying to make his way in the world, always bragging he's going to be joining his family in Santa Fe as soon as they send for him.  

David has a loving family at home, but his father is out of work due to an injury, so David and his little brother Les (Luke Edwards) turn to selling papers to support their family until their father recovers.  David is educated and genteel, using good grammar and etiquette.  He's quiet and reserved, and hesitant to make trouble or attract attention.  He quickly becomes the idea man behind the strike's mouthpiece.

By contrast, Jack is loud, loves attracting attention, and is perfectly happy to stand up in front of a crowd and make speeches.  But he's also lonely.  His time with David's family only reinforces to Jack how much is missing from his life. 

The fledgling strike attracts the attention of Bryan Denton (Bill Pullman), formerly an ace war correspondent who raced up San Juan Hill with Teddy Roosevelt, but who is now working in New York.  Denton takes the newsies seriously and treats them with respect, and he works hard to make sure that stories about their strike get noticed in his paper.  He's a voice of reason helping to keep the boys grounded and aware of some of the dangers they'll be facing.

Jack and David rally all their newsies who also sell for Pulitzer's paper, and set out to convince all the other newsies across all of New York City to join them too.  

My favorite minor character is Spot Conlan (Gabriel Damon).  He's basically a teenage mob boss who runs Brooklyn.  He carries a cane and wears red suspenders and has the most delicious accent.  He oozes attitude and swagger and charm and confidence, and I could probably write a whole blog post just about him, but I don't have time at the moment, lol.

Newsies from across the city hold a big rally at a music hall run by singer Medda Larkson (Ann-Margret).  Everything goes really well until police sent by Pulitzer break up the rally, brutalize the boys, and arrest many of them, including Jack Kelly.

Pulitzer demands that Jack Kelly either stop leading the strike or go to prison and various other threats.  

Robert Duvall gets pretty cold and scary in this movie, considering it's a Disney musical aimed at kids.  He plays Pulitzer as out of touch with reality, sitting behind his giant desk in his office high above the street, thinking he's basically God on earth.  He can't understand why anyone would disagree with him, and the fact that someone has absolutely unbalances him.  I keep telling my teens we need to watch one of the many movies I have where Robert Duvall plays someone absolutely lovely so they don't think he's always playing mean and awful people, because he's really convincing in this role.

The scenes where Christian Bale gets to go toe-to-toe with Robert Duvall are some of my favorites.  He holds his own with this Hollywood heavyweight, even though he was still in his late teens.  He's not great shakes at dancing, but his singing has a lot of heart.  But it's his acting we're here for, and he does not disappoint.

Bill Pullman is the quiet and solid bedrock of the whole story.  He never condescends to all the kids around him, and he shyly smiles his way into our hearts every time.  He's got such a sweet gravitas in this role, and he really works well in period fare like this.  He exudes old-fashioned wholesomeness, if that makes sense.

I SPOIL the ending in the next couple paragraphs, so if you want to avoid that, please skip down to the blogathon button.

My youngest daughter is micro-fixated on the US Presidents, and has been for over a year now.  I think the presence of future President Teddy Roosevelt (David James Alexander) in this movie may have been part of what got her interested in the Presidents to begin with.  Denton plays on his former acquaintance with Roosevelt to bring the newsies strike to the New York Governor's attention, with spectacular results.

The newsies rally ALL of the child laborers of the city to their cause.  

Jack and David face down Pulitzer and show him how useless his stubborn resistance to their demands for fair treatment are.

And Governor Roosevelt shows up in person to support the strikers, so we know Pulitzer will have to capitulate.  It's a happy ending all around!

This has been my contribution to the Robert Duvall Tribute Blogathon hosted by Taking Up Room this weekend.  Be sure to check out the blogathon for other great posts and reviews!

Is this movie family friendly?  Pretty much, yup.  It's got a couple mild cuss words, some non-bloody violence, and one instance of two guys chasing and manhandling a girl.  There's a kiss between two teens.  Ann-Margret shows some cleavage.  Not sure if there's anything else remotely possible to object to.