Tommystorm

I love Tim Burton. I love Stephen Sondheim. Johnny Depp is awesome. The Musical Theatre production of Sweeney Todd is one of my favorite Broadway shows. So I went to see the movie version. Duh. 

My reaction? Well, for me, the movie added another dimension to the familiar theatrical version, capturing the wretched streets of london, and allowing the characters to really develop in their element. Cobbled streets, rat-infested sewers, soot-spewing chimneys, and appropriately spartain quarters for our hero’s barber shop and heroine’s meat pie saloon.Having been musical director of one theatrical version of ST myself many years ago, i was, of course, going to scrutinize music in this movie, should the need arise. I was thrilled to hear Jonathan Tunic’s original orchestrations remain almost completely intact, and Sondheim’s songs, while sometime truncated, well presented. The only thing i missed was the “Greek Chorus” singing the Ballad of Sweeney Todd, which in the theatrical version, serves to transition one scene to the next, and intruduces new parts of the story. In the movie, we are treated only to an instrumental version of this piece. But you know what? That’s fine. It worked.

Having seen the Broadway producion of Sweeney Todd in the 1979 with Angela Lansbury and Len Cariou, i was having a difficult time envisioning who possibly could play these characters any more perfectly than that award-winning duo. Now, knowing that Jonny Depp is numero uno on Burten’s “who should i cast in the lead male role” list … it is not surprising to see him play Sweeney. But can he sing? Well. Kinda. Some “amateur hour” moments did strike me in Depp’s performance, sliding in to some of those high notes like a refugee from A Chorus Line, but all in all, the intensity and delivery was highly believeable and truly needn’t have been virtuosic (which they weren’t). His musical delivery suited his character well. Depp occasionally regressed into his Jack Sparrow dialect, but for those who didn’t see his Pirates movies, you wont mind.

That cannot be said, however, of his sidekick Helena Bonham Carter. Sorry to say, she seemed not to get what Mrs. Lovett was meant to be. She failed to portray the human fallibility that would lead a struggling merchant to resort to using human flesh in her meat-pies, but to still serve as a motherly figure to poor Toby, the orphan boy who lands in her service. Her musical performances were lackluster, and her portrayal of Lovett was unconvincing. I was like “huh?” when Toby sang “Not While I’m Around” to her, thinking how the hell would he feel such a bond to such an unloveable mommy-figure? Nope didnt work. I was bored by her. The balance of the cast is brilliant. In particular, i asked myself on the way home, “Why didnt theatrical versions of ST use a boy instead of a teenager for the part of Toby?” Man, it worked so well. That was the best Toby i’ve ever seen, and Ed Sanders deserves Best Supporting Actor in next years Oscars for his portrayal.Other remarkable cast members were Alan Rickman, playing Judge Turpin. He brought out the evil, perverse and corrupt politician in a way i’ve never seen before. You probably know this actor as as Snape in the Harry Potter movies. He was awesome. And he can sing, too!

While ST is not among my top 5 favorite films of all time, it is definately something i will see again, and surely buy the DVD.

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