BEFORE: Continuing with the Johnny Depp chain - and I saved perhaps the most gruesome film for Halloween night. After this, no more horror films - back to films about war, spies and politics. Which reminds me, isn't there an election coming up? In deference to our new Republican overlords, I spent the evening participating in a socialist re-distribution of candy resources, doling out Smarties and Snickers to a crowd of (presumed) neighborhood anchor babies. It would have made more fiscal sense to put the kids to work sweeping up leaves in the backyard, as part of the trickle-down economic theory - hey, I would have paid a fair wage, so they could buy bags of their favorite candy, but most of them didn't bring two forms of ID, and I can't hire undocumented aliens, so there you go. Now me, I'd be too proud to take bailout candy...
Seriously, I almost ran out of candy, and if the weather had been warmer, and it hadn't been a school night, I might have had to break into the emergency Kit Kats. I was pretty close to handing out leftover lollipops in wrappers that read "Being 40 Sucks" - hey, they might as well find that out now - maybe they'll appreciate being young more.
This is why I'm not cut out to be a Dad - because instead of spending $40 on a costume so my kid could get $10 worth of random candy, half of which he probably wouldn't like, I'd offer him $20 cash to go to the drugstore and buy bags of his favorite kind - see, I'd save money, the kid would get his favorite treats, and everybody wins, right? Except I'd be sucking all the fun out of the holiday.
THE PLOT: The infamous story of Benjamin Barker, a.k.a Sweeney Todd, who sets up a barber shop down in London which is the basis for a sinister partnership with his fellow tenant, Mrs. Lovett.
AFTER: No lie, the first thing I did after watching this was shave...
It sort of made me wonder if you ever see a barbershop located over a meat-pie shop in London. A while back here in Queens NY we had a barbecue restaurant right next door to a veterinary clinic, and I made sure not to eat there.
I'm happy to knock this one off the list - my wife watched it a few months ago, and she's been playing some of the songs on long car trips, so it's nice to give them some context. Plus the Sondheim musical featured prominently in an episode of "The Office" a couple of weeks ago.
I have to say, I'm pleasantly surprised by Johnny Depp's singing ability, as well as that of the other actors, like Sacha Baron Cohen (last seen in "Brüno") who has a small but memorable role as a rival barber. He darn near stole the show...
The story is a simple one at heart - Todd wants revenge against those who wronged him in his previous life, a pretty basic intent. But there are some twists to what unfolds, which I won't reveal here. But anyone familiar with the story knows the gist of what happens here, a partnership between a murderous barber and a conspiring baker. If you thought revenge was a dish best served cold, turns out it's actually piping hot, fresh out of the oven...
It's interesting that this film takes place in a poverty-stricken London, and then was released in the U.S. just before the Recession of 2008 - now I'm not saying that poor U.S. citizens have resorted to cannibalism, but statistics do show that about 100,000 people go missing each year, just in the U.S. - I've never really understood where they all go...
NITPICK POINT: Doesn't anyone ever notice that so few people are seen leaving the barbershop? I guess it's in the middle of the big city and all, but come on, how many people can go up those stairs to a small shop, with no one coming down, before someone gets suspicious?
That's going to wrap up October and the horror chain, which is a shame since I just got copies of the original "Phantom of the Opera" and "Invisible Man" films off of TCM. Oh well, they'll have to wait.
Also starring Helena Bonham Carter (last seen in "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince"), Alan Rickman (ditto), Timothy Spall (ditto again - hey, it's a three-fer!).
RATING: 6 out of 10 tankards of ale
SPOOK-O-METER: 8 out of 10, for gruesome blood-letting (special FX can sometimes be too real...) and of course, meat pies. (So meaty!)
If I can make a suggestion... go out and get your hands on the concert version of Sweeney Todd starring Patti LuPone and George Hearn. This version gives some of the supporting characters a little bit more exposition, and the vocals are just plain stunning.
ReplyDeleteYeah, this was a big disappointment for me. Of the 50 or so musicals that people have heard of, Sweeney Todd is the most legitimately disturbing (except for the ones that are inadvertently so). This movie looks too much like...well, like a Tim Burton movie. It's Pee Wee Todd, not Sweeney Todd.
ReplyDeleteThere's also the issue of the singing. Depp is...credible. He's an OK "hypenate singer" ("He's an actor...who can also sing"). Bonham Carter, on the other hand, is the reason why MGM used to dub the vocals of anyone who wasn't up to snuff. She's so obviously not up to the challenge of singing what's almost certainly Sondheim's trickiest female roles.
Check out Angela Lansbury in the role:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3QACSwtkWc
Carter's flat and quiet and not dynamic. Completely wrong. Who'd she sleep with to get cast in this movie? :)