Anastasia Review!

I've just heard about the 29 hour reading for a stage version of the film coming up with Angela Lansbury & Aaron Tveit, so I decided to review the film because it's always been apart of my childhood.
Star rating: ****
Cast: Meg Ryan, John Cusack, Kelsey Grammer, Angela Lansbury, Christopher Lloyd & Hank Azaria

Taking place in 1920s Russia, an orphan named Anya doesn't know anything about her family from when she was eight years-old, with her only clue being a necklace, given to the Grand Duchess Anastasia by her grandmother, who disappeared after Rasputin, curses the Romanov family & causes a siege who kill all the family, except for the dowager empress & the missing Anastasia. After Anya decides to go to Paris to find her family, con-man Dimitri & his friend Vladimir decide to con the dowager empress to get the 10 million rouble reward for the return of Anastasia. After the two men meet Anya, they convince her that she may be Anastasia & she should pose as her so she can go to Paris to find her family & so they can get the reward, despite the fact she's the actual Anastasia, who Rasputin is now trying to kill.


The songs in this are amazing, especially Journey To The Past & Once Upon A December, Anastasia's ground-breaking solos sung by Broadway star Liz Callaway, featuring Angela Lansbury herself & Jim Cummings as Rasputin's singing voice was good during In The Dark Of The Night which made me laugh because of all of the dancing and singing bugs with Bartok, who Hank Azaria makes me laugh as. Throughout I kept on thinking 'WOW! THIS WOULD MAKE AN AMAZING MUSICAL/STAGE SHOW!' (I especially thought this during Once Upon A December & Paris Holds The Key To Your Heart, which Broadway legend Bernadette Peters sings!)

Despite this, the historical inaccuracy has diminished the original true tale of this mysterious duchess & her royal family, reducing it to a modern fairy tale for young children. Because of this though, it's what makes the story of this film so entrancing & magical for people of all ages, especially women with the spunky & independent Anastasia, who Meg Ryan portrays well in. John Cusack was also good as the cocky & handsome con-man Dimitri, especially when  it came to the romantic comedy between him & Anya, who at first despise each other, to the point where there's already an attraction between them.

This would be my dream cast for the musical:
Anastasia: Sierra Boggess or Samantha Barks
Dimitri: Aaron Tveit or Hadley Fraser
Dowager Empress: Angela Lansbury
Vladimir: Earl Carpenter
Sophie: Wendy Ferguson
Rasputin: Tim Curry