The film stars Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Eddie Redmayne, Amanda Seyfried, Helena Bonham Carter, and Sacha Baron Cohen, with Samantha Barks, Aaron Tveit, and Daniel Huttlestone in supporting roles.

Set in France during the early nineteenth century, the film tells the story of Jean Valjean who, while being hunted for decades by the ruthless policeman Javert after breaking parole, agrees to care for a factory worker's daughter.

Following the release of the stage musical, a film adaptation was mired in development hell for over ten years, as the rights were passed on to several major studios, and various directors and actors considered.

[9] Filming took place on locations in Greenwich, London, Chatham, Winchester, Bath, and Portsmouth, England; in Gourdon, France; and on soundstages in Pinewood Studios.

Valjean attempts to steal his silverware and is captured, but the bishop, in radical grace, claims he gave him the silver and tells him to use it to begin an honest life.

Learning that a man has been wrongly identified as him, Valjean reveals his identity to the court before returning to the dying Fantine, promising to care for Cosette.

Colm Wilkinson and Frances Ruffelle, two of the original cast members involved in the West End and Broadway productions of the English version (as Jean Valjean and Éponine, respectively), make appearances.

Several actors in the West End production of the musical appear as members of the student society, including George Blagden as Grantaire;[44] Killian Donnelly as Combeferre; Fra Fee as Courfeyrac; Alistair Brammer as Jean Prouvaire; Hugh Skinner as Joly;[45] Gabriel Vick as Feuilly;[46] Iwan Lewis as Bahorel; and Stuart Neal as Bossuet.

[47] Ian Pirie, Adam Pearce, Julian Bleach, and Marc Pickering portray Babet, Brujon, Claquesous, and Montparnasse, members of Thenadier's gang.

Fellner, Tim Bevan, and Debra Hayward were hired as producers alongside Mackintosh, and engaged William Nicholson to write a screenplay for the film.

Having already approached Hooper prior to production with the desire of playing Jean Valjean, Hugh Jackman began negotiations to star in the film alongside Paul Bettany as Javert.

Before Hathaway was cast, Amy Adams, Jessica Biel, Tammy Blanchard, Kristin Kreuk, Marion Cotillard, Kate Winslet and Rebecca Hall were also considered for the part.

[31] The shortlist of actresses for the role of Éponine included Scarlett Johansson, Lea Michele, Miley Cyrus, Tamsin Egerton, Taylor Swift, and Evan Rachel Wood.

[86] Some late filming occurred in Bath, Somerset, in October 2012 where stunt shots for Javert's suicide scene had to be reshot due to an error found with this footage during post-production.

[89]Although the creative team stated that this live recording method was unique and "a world's first", many films have used this technique before, notably early talkies, when lip-syncing had not been perfected.

Producers released a new poster, featuring young Cosette (in what is essentially a real-life version of the musical's emblem), played by Isabelle Allen, on 24 September 2012, on the film's official Facebook page.

The site's consensus reads: "Impeccably mounted but occasionally bombastic, Les Misérables largely succeeds thanks to bravura performances from its distinguished cast.

Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph gave the film five stars: "Les Misérables is a blockbuster, and the special effects are emotional: explosions of grief; fireballs of romance; million-buck conflagrations of heartbreak.

[120] Kenneth Turan of Los Angeles Times gave a positive review, saying that the film "is a clutch player that delivers an emotional wallop when it counts.

"[121] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone said, "Besides being a feast for the eyes and ears, Les Misérables overflows with humor, heartbreak, rousing action and ravishing romance.

"[122] Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter said, "As the enduring success of this property has shown, there are large, emotionally susceptible segments of the population ready to swallow this sort of thing, but that doesn't mean it's good.

"[125] Calum Marsh of Slant Magazine gave the film one star out of four, and wrote: "Flaws—and there are a great many that would have never made the cut were this a perfectible studio recording—are conveniently swept under the rug of candid expression ... the worst quality of Les Misérables's live singing is simply that it puts too much pressure on a handful of performers who frankly cannot sing.... Fisheye lenses and poorly framed close-ups abound in Les Misérables, nearly every frame a revelation of one man's bad taste ... One would be hard-pressed to describe this, despite the wealth of beauty on display, as anything but an ugly film, shot and cut ineptly.

"[126] Chicago Tribune critic Michael Phillips gave the film one and a half stars out of four, writing: "The camera bobs and weaves like a drunk, frantically.

[128] Christopher Orr of The Atlantic wrote that "Hathaway gives it everything she has, beginning in quiet sorrow before building to a woebegone climax: she gasps, she weeps, she coughs.

[137] Emma Gosnell, writing for The Daily Telegraph, stated that she walked out of the showing due to the poor singing, specifically citing Crowe and Jackman as the cause.

[145] In his review of the film's 2024 Dolby Cinema remaster, Jack Walters of Loud and Clear Reviews felt that the film itself "might not have aged perfectly, but [it] still knows the strengths of this story", while praising Hooper's "cinematic" direction, saying that: the biggest advantage of cinema in contrast to theatre is the ability to create an entire world on-screen, as opposed to being limited to the physical space of a stage.

Hooper capitalises on this fact with some brilliant production design and creative camera movements that fully realise the scope of this story, placing the audience directly in the middle of the action in a way that's simply not possible on-stage.

It's one of the few legitimate arguments in favour of adapting this musical for the big screen – the film includes so much detail and environmental storytelling that adds new dynamics to this narrative.

Tim Grierson wrote a retrospective on the film for RogerEbert.com, focusing on re-evaluating Russell Crowe's performance and the initial public criticism surrounding that element, concluding his piece with: Hardly wretched, he has perhaps never been so naked on screen as he was in Les Misérables, his Javert a man consumed with a sense of duty, his faulty larynx an indication of the deep emotional scars underneath the character's gruff exterior.

[157][158] In 2013, the film won three Academy Awards in the categories Best Supporting Actress for Anne Hathaway, Best Makeup and Hairstyling and Best Sound Mixing, and was nominated for five more, including Best Picture and Best Actor in a Leading Role for Hugh Jackman.