10. Les Misérables
Running Time: 158 minutes A film about the French Revolution has some justification in having a pretty epic length, but Les Misérables has only a fleeting reference to the full movement. If anything, it's a prequel, dealing with the unsuccessful June Rebellion rather than anything really historically impactful. Thus what we're left with is a fictional period piece. A very good fictional period piece that is evidently well thought out in terms of its themes, but all the same, it's still made up. That's not an inherent issue - The Godfather is made up - but in the case of Tom Hooper's adaptation of the musical based on Victor Hugo's gigantic book it stands out as an ordeal, long because it simply is. The play is 175 minutes with an interval, meaning that the film is pretty much exactly the same length, a prospect that makes your arse ache just thinking about it. Another issue that serves to highlight the bloated length is the attempts at creating a sense of epicness. The musical achieves this by its very nature, but on screen, where big casts and large sets are the bread and butter, we get more visual tricks - obnoxious close-ups and clearly CGI crane shots - that wear awfully quickly.
What could be cut? All the songs that have been written for the screen for a start. After that it would have to be anything with Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter, obviously.