Sweeny Todd: Demon Barber of Fleet Street Well, it took a while but I finally managed to see this one. I had several reasons for wanting to. First, Nita and I had seen the stage production years ago in Cedar City. Second, it stars Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter, both of whom I respect as actors (although not necessarily any other way) and finally, it’s a Tim Burton movie and I think he’s the best insane writer-director out there.
In case you are unfamiliar with the story line, a word or two will be necessary. A London Barber has a wonderful life—beautiful wife, new baby daughter, when a powerful judge (Alan Rickman) has him arrested in order to put the wife back on the market. As it were. The Barber escapes from prison after 15 years, comes home and is told his wife is dead and his daughter is the ward of the judge. He’s quite insane by now, obsessed with revenge, and changes his name to Sweeny Todd, colludes with Mrs. Lovett (Carter) who owns an uninspired (and unsanitary) meat pie shop.
Todd starts killing men he believes had anything to do with anything, and Lovett makes meat pies out of the cadavers. The plot thickens, Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat) makes a nice cameo as the Spaniard, meat pie stock goes way up, a twist or two, tragedy, the end.
Did I mention it’s a musical? Stephen Sondheim, the genius. The music is not as approachable as some of his others, which makes sense since the story is far more macabre than his others. Depp and Carter, neither singers, make up for lack of training with amazing emotional range. I like musicals, but I know many, perhaps most, people do not. Your loss. Camelot is my favorite.
I found this movie to be a disturbing, uneven version of the Broadway hit. It is brooding, dark, brilliant and bloody with the kind of graphic, gory detail only Burton is capable of. Very dark humor here and there as well.
If you are a serious aficionado, I highly recommend this movie. If not, I can’t recommend it. Hopefully you know which you are.
It’s rated R for weird, blood and gore, cockroaches and being a serious buzz-kill.
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