“Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” (Paramount Pictures)
Bloody Delicious
Actor Johnny Depp and Director Tim Burton are a winning combination. They joined their talents in “Edward Scissorhands,” “Ed Wood,” “Sleepy Hollow,” “The Corpse Bride” and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”; but never have they tackled a project as risky as the screen adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s Broadway success “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.” Still the talented pair has managed to pull it off. This musical movie is bloody and gory and glorious.
Depp plays Benjamin Barker, a pleasant barber who is devoted to his wife (Laura Michelle Kelly) and his infant daughter. An evil judge (Alan Rickman) casts a covetous eye on Barker’s wife and decides she will be his. He has Barker arrested on a trumped up charge and sent to prison. Fifteen years later Barker escapes and returns to London as Sweeney Todd.
Learning that his wife is dead, Todd swears revenge. He is joined in his nefarious plans by Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter), a widow who operates the meat pie shop located beneath his barber shop. Todd slices open throats and then drops the bodies into the cellar. There they are gathered by Mrs. Lovett and ground up for meat in her pies. Waste not, want not.
All of this convoluted plot is told through the melodious sounds of Stephen Sondheim’s songs. Some just advance the plot while others weave a spell and spirit all their own. Depp’s voice is perfectly suited for the score and Bonham Carter also has a enjoyable voice.
Depp dives into his role with gusto and makes Sweeney another standout in a long line of standout performances. Though not as charismatic as Depp, Bonham Carter adds a devilish glee to the proceedings. Rickman is an important contributor as the judge, and Sacha Baron Cohen has a noticeable cameo as a rival barber.
Not to be overlooked is Ed Sanders as Toby, the young boy Mrs. Lovett takes on as an assistant. His role is integral to the plot and his acting and singing talent are important to the movie. The same can be said of Timothy Spall, who is the judge’s nefarious accomplice.
The movie is rated R for violence.
If audiences aren’t put off by all the blood flowing they can have a great time watching Johnny Depp act and sing in a truly unique film. It is unlike any other holiday offering and in this one, thank goodness, the ending is satisfactory. At least for me it was, unlike “No Country For Old Men” and “There Will Be Blood.”
I scored “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” a slicing 8 out of 10.
