Sweeney Todd

This film is sumptuous to behold. The costumes by Colleen Atwood, the production design by Dante Ferretti, the cinematography by Dariusz Wolski, all of them are excellent, and create the world of Victorian England that, if it is not completely historically accurate, then at least this is how we think it should be seen, from the novels of Dickens to the stories about Jack the Ripper--smoke-filled skies and awash in gray. I admired this film a great deal, but as the screen went to black following the final tableau, I didn't feel very much, and by the time I put on my coat and left the theater the entire experience had pretty much dissipated.

One knows one is watching a Tim Burton film immediately, as the opening credits are familiarly stylized, with blood flowing through a gear mechanism. I've enjoyed many Burton films over the years, and there are many aspects of Sweeney Todd that are perfectly suited for his gifts, but he's never been strong when it comes to genuine emotion. A few of his films, notably Edward Scissorhands and Big Fish, have endeavored at sentimentality, but are camouflaged by their fairy-tale structure. So it is with Sweeney Todd, who was kind of a boogey-man for English children. This is all well and good, but this film is seriously lacking a heart, and if we are supposed to feel any pathos for the title character, well, there is none.

I am unfamiliar with the stage play, so I don't know how closely the film hews to the source. It is the story of an innocent barber who is railroaded by a judge who covets the barber's beautiful wife. After serving a long prison sentence, he returns seeking vengeance, and now calls himself Sweeney Todd (and has a skunk-like shock of white hair). He returns to his old shop and finds on the ground floor a pie shop run by Mrs. Lovett, who recognizes him and is sympathetic to his cause. Much mayhem ensues, including about a dozen or so throats being slit with gushing blood. Then Todd and Mrs. Lovett figure out how to dispose of the bodies, making good use of her pie shop downstairs.

The stage musical can get by on a thin plot, because the audience is usually interested in hearing the music, but in my view a film can not, so there's not really much story here. Will Todd kill the judge? Will his young daughter, now a teen and in the evil clutches of the judge, be rescued? And who is the mysterious beggar woman? All of these questions don't take a rocket scientist to answer.

The music is by Stephen Sondheim, who I think is an acquired taste. As a lyricist he is without equal, but his music is complex and not exactly toe-tapping--he could have never written "My Favorite Things." A number of the songs are clever lyrically--particularly "The Worst Pies in London," in which Mrs. Lovett displays her lack of cooking skills, and a song between Todd and Lovett about how different London citizens might make better eating than others. But on the whole, I didn't find the music particularly brilliant.

As for the performances, yes, Johnny Depp can sing. He's no Pavarotti, he's not even Len Cariou, who created the part on Broadway, but he's in tune and does his best with the limitations of the role, since he really only has one motivation, and that's vengeance. I almost always find Depp an interesting actor, but here he doesn't need to do much but scowl and be handy with a razor. Less successful is Helena Bonham-Carter as Mrs. Lovett. She is made up like a typical Burton character, with raccoon eyes and a bird's-nest hairdo, and she gets a few laughs, but her singing voice is very thin. Alan Rickman, Timothy Spall and Sasha Baron Cohen are all fine in supporting roles, but young Ed Sanders is very good as Toby, the street urchin who finds a job with Mrs. Lovett and begins to suspect that things aren't quite what they seem with Mr. Todd.

I have no idea how this will play with audiences. Already there have been reports how some people weren't even aware it was a musical until the singing starts. When I went to see it a couple brought a child under ten, and I wondered whether they realized how much gore there was about to be unleashed. Were they expecting another Nightmare Before Christmas or Corpse Bride? Sweeney Todd is not those, though it does have its moments of gleeful carnage.

Again, this film earns my respect but not my affection.