Newsies (1992)
Directed by choreographer Ortega, this Disney melodic is based on a strike of 1899, in which Restored York’s newsboys rallied against press baron Joseph Pulitzer (Duvall). It espouses the Great Humankind theory of history, with energetic puerile tearaway Jack Kelly (Bale) galvanising the masses with his sheer charisma, sullen jeans-ad looks, and middling ability to finance a song. If you beget a soft spot for feisty, back-talking bambini with cute squints, backwards caps and names like Crutchy, Dutchy and Bumlets, your pity command melt. Frighteningly master attention-grabbers to a lad, these nouveaux Dead Object Kids gambol to a brassy, forgettable condition; the anachronistic proto-hip-hop touches rankle, even if Jack Feldman’s lyrics outfit the odd witty performance level. Not quite Matewan with tunes; more like Oliver! without them.