The Greatest Showman (2017) reviews

The Fuzzy Mushroom take on The Greatest Showman

By Fuzzy Mushroom · Updated 11 November 2026 · The Pros 55 · The Punters 80 · Spore Score 60 · How we write our takes

Why the camps are so far apart

The Greatest Showman is a classic case of critics shrugging and audiences singing along. The Punters give it 80, The Pros 55, and the gap of 25 points leaves a Spore Score of 60: fuzzy. Many reviewers found the story shallow and the history whitewashed. Audiences, who kept going back and made the soundtrack one of the best-selling albums of 2018, mostly just loved the songs.

What audiences love

Hugh Jackman plays P. T. Barnum, a poor tailor's son who marries his childhood sweetheart Charity (Michelle Williams) and builds a museum of curiosities into a travelling circus. His performers, including the bearded lady Lettie Lutz (Keala Settle), the trapeze artist Anne Wheeler (Zendaya) and the dwarf entertainer known as General Tom Thumb, find a family in the show. Zac Efron plays his upper-class business partner.

The songs, by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, who also wrote the lyrics for La La Land, are relentlessly catchy. This Is Me, sung by Settle, is a genuine anthem and was nominated for the Oscar for Best Original Song. Rewrite the Stars, sung on the trapeze, is the film's most beautiful sequence. Jackman's commitment holds it all together.

What critics object to

The real Barnum was a far more complicated and often exploitative figure, and the film turns him into a feel-good dreamer. Its message about celebrating outsiders sits awkwardly with the story of a man who profited from putting them on display. The plot is thin and moves in a rush from one musical number to the next, and some of the pop production can feel anachronistic.

Who is right?

If you want a history lesson, The Pros are right. If you want a sing-along with big emotions, it delivers, and The Punters' score makes sense.

The Fuzzy Mushroom verdict

Good bet, Spore Score 60. Ignore the history and enjoy the songs. Nobody watches it for the facts.