2007 / 117 Minutes / R
Reviewed by Dale J. Nauertz

There have been many great actor/director collaborative teams throughout the course of cinema history. The most respected, of course, is probably the teaming of Robert DeNiro and Martin Scorsese though James Stewart and Frank Capra are also a pretty tough act to beat. John Woo and Chow Yun Fat were a good team as well and Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese have a pretty solid track record thus far (Scorsese seems more devoted to actors than most people are toward their spouses). Why do these actor/director combos work so well? I suspect the answer is simply that the two men in question have similar creative sensibilities. They’re interested in the same sorts of material, understand what the other needs to do an excellent job, and, most importantly, don’t manage to completely piss one another off. None of these collaborators, however, have shit on Johnny Depp and Tim Burton. They may never have done a movie as brilliant as “It’s a Wonderful Life” or “Goodfellas” but at least they don’t have a “New York, New York” in their resume.

In fact, that movie is a prime example of what makes Depp and Burton such a perfect match. When Scorsese and his first wife DeNiro got together to make a musical, the result was “New York, New York”: a gigantic mess that can’t make up its mind whether it wants to be a shrill, gritty 70’s movie or a lush, romantic 40’s musical and therefore ends up being neither. When Depp and Burton put their heads together and decided to make beautiful music, the result was “Sweeney Todd”: a dark, menacing movie which literally goes for the jugular…that you can also hum along to.

“Sweeney Todd” is the tale of a mild-mannered barber whose beautiful wife and daughter get stolen away by a scheming magistrate (Alan Rickman) after the judge sends him off to prison on a trumped-up charge. Fifteen years later, the barber (Johnny Depp) returns to London with a new name and murder in his heart. Revenge is his vow and he plans to achieve it by luring the judge into his chair and give him a very, very close shave. The plan goes awry, however, robbing Sweeney of his revenge but leaving another body in his barber chair. One thing leads to another and soon Depp is dispatching dozens of Londoners with a quick flick of his blade. The evidence is then disposed of by Miss Lovett (a pasty-as-usual Helena Bonham Carter) who uses the bodies as the meat filling for her pasties.

Tim Burton began as a Disney animator, which makes sense considering the cartoonish nature of the bulk of his filmography (I’m not complaining, mind you, that happens to be one of the things that most distinguishes him as a filmmaker and makes me love his work) but here he eschews his usual cartoonish bent and instead imbues the film with a healthy dose of stark gallows humor. His shadowy, Hot Topic visual sensibilities are here in full force, however, and provide a perfect counterpoint to the words and music of Stephen Sondheim’s vicious soundscape. In fact, Sondheim’s dark cynicism and pitch black musical storytelling have pushed Burton to create perhaps the finest work of his career. Tim Burton’s films have always hovered in the shadows, but he’s never told a story quite this dark or dangerous. The revenge theme of the tale and the darkness on display, both in the visual pallet as well as the depths of human depravity inhabiting the movie’s characters, result in the most mature and assured film Tim Burton has ever made…with the possible exception of “Ed Wood”. That’s not to say, however, that Tim has left behind his playful sense of humor. Despite the grave goings on, many moments are downright hilarious.

Much of the humor evident in the movie is the result of Johnny Depp’s drolly despaired performance. He stalks through this London entirely composed of dark corners looking like a deranged, bloodthirsty Beethoven. His hair is meticulously unkempt (with a skunk-like streak of pure white), his eyes peer out from haunted hollows, and his mouth curves in a plotting, malicious smile that never quite touches those haunted eyes. Life has been mean to Sweeney Todd, and he is determined to respond in kind. His interior monologues erupt in gloriously twisted song. I particularly enjoyed the song in which Depp and Carter discuss making pies of people, commenting upon the flavors and textures of various occupations. It’s an ingeniously twisted little tune that cracked me up quite efficiently. The songs provide a near constant commentary, running through the majority of the film, but they never grate or grow tiresome as they did in “Evita” or “Phantom of the Opera”, two films in which I wished the characters would just talk every once in a while. The songs are uniformly excellent and though Depp and Carter are obviously no professional singers, their voices never distract. They may not possess the greatest of vocal ranges, but the passion and intensity of their performances more than make up for it. Both actors are at their finest here, as is Sacha Baron Cohen in his brief, hilarious turn as a competitive Italian barber. I must also make mention of Ed Sanders, a child actor with a wonderful vocal range who plays young Toby, apprentice to the diabolical barber and pie maker of Fleet Street. He’s one to keep your eye on.

If you can appreciate the twisted darkness and bitter cynicism of the film and its fine songs, you’re bound to have a magnificent time. Tim Burton and his collaborators (including the always fine Mr. Depp) are firing on all cylinders here. The result might just net Burton something he’s never gotten before: an Oscar nomination.

Share on Facebook

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 30th, 2007 at 2:28 pm and is filed under Dale's Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.