Johnny Depp

Here’s a script review of Sweeney Todd from Michael Vaal at IESB.net.

The Shortest Script “Review” I’ve Ever Done

The script, for all intents and purposes, is just an edited down version of the original playbook by Hugh Wheeler based on a play by Christopher Bond, which in turn was inspired by the legend of Sweeney Todd and the pulp horror fictions of the late 19th century. Screenwriter John Logan kept the best songs and the critical action and it seems that they haven’t had to cut much to make it work – no doubt thanks to the fact that the material was from a play and was nearly perfectly staged.

It’s still set in London and all the characters are here and represented faithfully, so there isn’t much to dwell on regarding the script except to say, “thank god it wasn’t turned into a roaring 20’s gay Chicago gangster musical.” You never know with Hollywood these days…

So, What Might Go Wrong?

While I’m a huge fan of Tim Burton, the director, and of Johnny Depp (Sweeney Todd) and Helena Bonham Carter (Mrs. Lovett), there are a few lingering questions.

Can Tim Burton direct real drama? We’ve seen him deftly handle comedic roles and all manner of oddness very well over the years. But this isn’t THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS (which he co-directed with an animation legend) or EDWARD SCISSORHANDS (the closest anyone has come to crying for a Burton directed character at the end). SWEENEY TODD is serious work. Can he make us FEEL the tragedy and pathos of Sweeney? If that doesn’t come through, the ending of the movie won’t move people the way the stage musical has for almost three decades.

Can Johnny Depp sing, let alone deep enough that the walls of theater resonate in a way you’ve never heard before? Because that’s what Sweeney calls for. To be blunt, there are very few professional singers who can pull off the role of Sweeney vocally, let alone act to a level that transforms the role from the big theater stage to the small theater screen. This is clearly his toughest and most challenging role to date. And I do not envy him here at all.

Helena Bonham Carter is less of a worry due to the nature and range of the songs Mrs. Lovett sings. Whether she can take the crown away from Angela Lansbury isn’t as important as whether she can get the audience laughing at the right moments. Mrs. Lovett is devious and clueless, naïvely romantic and heartless as it suits her. Fortunately, this is material that the director is well versed in.

I’m sure the sets, production values, etc. etc. will be top drawer. This is Dreamworks and Warner Brothers after all. I guess my only concern here is that Burton has a habit of making EVERYTHING he does look the same as those cartoony sketches he originally drew for THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS when he was an animator at Disney. I’d like to see SWEENEY TODD pick up from where Burton went with the live action bookends of CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY or a more realistic, grittier version of his already rather gritty work on SLEEPY HOLLOW. To be honest, if I see another BEETLEJUICE “Burton tree” in one of his movies, I think I’m gonna puke.

So everything rests on the director and the leads. They have amazing material in hand, which has remained remarkably and pleasantly true to the original masterpiece. Soon we will know if Tim Burton and Johnny Depp can bring to this role not only the wonderful music and dark comedy they are both known for, but also the tragic pathos of one of the greatest anti-heroes in modern fiction.

Of course, those of us who are Johnny Depp fans have no doubt that this material is in the best hands possible! If Johnny can’t pull off this role, then there’s no one out there who can!

Johnny Depp, Depp, Sweeney Todd, Tim Burton, Helena Bonham Carter