I knew this had mixed reviews...but we rented it on a Saturday night and my boys LOOOOVED it-I mean "best-movie-ever" loved it. My review might be shadowed by the fact that it was awesome watching boys love a romantic, idealistic musical this much, but I thoroughly enjoyed it, too. Were some parts corny? Sure. Was some of the background super digitized and fake. Absolutely. But the whole vibe of the movie was completely exciting and uplifting, and made me smile, too. How often can you say that about a movie? The music and dancing was fantastic and the message about embracing your differences was perfectly apropos.
Seems a little odd that this movie comes out now after all the controversy about animals being in the Ringling Bros. shows, but I tried to put that out of my head and just watch it from a performance point-of-view. Loved it! Gave it a genuine 10/10. Boys would have given it a 101/10 if they could!!