Musicals used to be all the thing, but we didn’t see too many come out of Hollywood there for a while. When Disney produced “Newsies” in 1992, it was a great reminder of a time gone by when all the best stories were told in song. It didn’t do so well in the box office when it was first released, but it has since become a cult favorite. I personally liked it for its own merits, cult notwithstanding.
Christian Bale stars as Jack Kelly, a homeless boy who supports himself as a newspaper boy in New York City. He’s considered to be the leader of the newsies, and with his devil-may-care attitude and thirst for adventure, they follow him wherever he goes. But underneath his smart-aleck exterior, he’s lonely, and dreams of a life in a place called “Santa Fe.”
Mr. Pulitzer, owner of The New York World, wants to make more money off his newspaper. Headlines haven’t been too great for weeks, and he’s anxious about his pocketbook. When one of his advisors suggests that he raise the price of the paper to the newsies, he leaps on the idea. Now the boys have to pay ten cents more per hundred, which will cut into their meager profits, and they already have barely enough to eat.
Jack rallies the boys into going on strike, inspired by the latest headlines detailing a trolley strike. Together with his friends, they talk to every newsboy in the city and get them to join the cause. However, the newspaper owners have the big guns on their side, and some of the boys end up getting hurt.
When a reporter from another paper (Bill Pullman) comes to Jack and tells him he’d like to cover the story, the newsies realize how the power of the press can be used to their advantage as well. As the newspaper owners become more and more worried about the effect the strike will have on their companies, they pull out all the stops, including trying to bribe Jack with what he wants most in the world – a ticket to Santa Fe with money in his pocket. But Jack refuses, knowing that his voice can make a difference.
With stirring musical numbers and energetic dance routines, the viewer is shown the difficulty of being a newsie in New York. And as the strike grows to encompass every child laborer in the city, we come to realize what a huge social issue this really was, and how these newsies became heros.
There is a little bit of violence as the gangs and the police battle it out, but it’s not excessive.
This movie is rated PG.
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