Bloody Good

The knives of Sweeney Todd may be sharp, but they're no match for the pitchforks brandished by fans of the Tony award-winning musical. In the 28 years since Stephen Sondheim's masterpiece premiered on Broadway, the show has attracted a passionate legion of admirers who have proclaimed it Sondheim's best. It has also had its fair share of Hollywood suitors -- though the challenge of adapting it from stage to screen felled many. Now, finally, director Tim Burton has succeeded in making a film of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, though he's trimmed the score considerably and cast two of his own muses in the lead roles: Johnny Depp as the mad barber and Helena Bonham Carter (Burton's wife) as Todd's accomplice, Mrs. Lovett. Neither is known for having Broadway pipes, and Burton -- though a magnificent visual stylist -- has hardly set critical hearts aflutter in his last decade of filmmaking. Would this trio be up to the job, or would Broadway fans have their vengeance?

It's my pleasure to report that all but the most ardent of you can lay down your pitchforks. Burton's adaptation is a different beast, to be sure--many of the most showstopping numbers, including Mrs. Lovett's "The Worst Pies in London," have been taken down several notches in gusto -- but it deepens and expands upon the source material in a way that recent movie musicals haven't been able to. It helps that unlike Rob Marshall (Chicago) or Susan Stroman (The Producers), Burton is no film neophyte, and his assured directing is a pleasure after the see-if-it-sticks approach taken by upstarts like Adam Shankman (Hairspray) and Julie Taymor (Across the Universe). The way Burton marries his film language to Sondheim's score produces a synergy not unlike that of Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett: Sondheim's songs burst with passion, though they're tempered by Burton's practical edits.

Of course, all their efforts would be moot if the chance Burton took on Depp had not paid off (he was cast on faith before having sung a note). Happily, the actor is more than up to the challenge. Besides the question of Depp's pleasant voice, has there ever been a role that was a more obvious fit for the eccentric actor? Not only does Todd play to Depp's strengths as an antihero, but the iconic character indulges and pays off Depp's love of costume. With his streak of white hair, his red-rimmed eyes, and pallor, Todd has been made more ghostly than ever before, a spectral countenance that lends plausibility to the character's stagey asides. Depp may not have the heft in either weight or voice to be truly frightening, but his Todd is a compelling vision of turmoil. Singing affords him one form of release, but bloodletting is the only thing that can put red on his cheeks.

Matching him in his murderous pas de deux is Bonham Carter's Mrs. Lovett, and if both lead performances are high-wire acts, Bonham Carter performs hers over a meat grinder. It's a big role that was filled on stage by big actresses -- Angela Lansbury and Patti LuPone, to name just two -- and Bonham Carter can't hope to match their pipes with her reedy, plaintive voice. With Burton's approach, she doesn't have to. This Mrs. Lovett is almost as internal as Depp's Todd, but while Depp burns with single-minded vengeance, Bonham Carter's face betrays a wide host of conflicting emotions. Inevitably in a movie musical, someone has to be sung to--and it's hard to make such a reactive role interesting. Bonham Carter, though, is so avid that she can make another actor's musical number (especially the late "Not While I'm Around") seem like a duet. She may not have the title role, but Bonham Carter's cockeyed humanity gives Sweeney Todd its beating heart.

Of course, all their efforts would be moot if the chance Burton took on Depp had not paid off (he was cast on faith before having sung a note). Happily, the actor is more than up to the challenge. Besides the question of Depp's pleasant voice, has there ever been a role that was a more obvious fit for the eccentric actor? Not only does Todd play to Depp's strengths as an antihero, but the iconic character indulges and pays off Depp's love of costume. With his streak of white hair, his red-rimmed eyes, and pallor, Todd has been made more ghostly than ever before, a spectral countenance that lends plausibility to the character's stagey asides. Depp may not have the heft in either weight or voice to be truly frightening, but his Todd is a compelling vision of turmoil. Singing affords him one form of release, but bloodletting is the only thing that can put red on his cheeks.

Matching him in his murderous pas de deux is Bonham Carter's Mrs. Lovett, and if both lead performances are high-wire acts, Bonham Carter performs hers over a meat grinder. It's a big role that was filled on stage by big actresses -- Angela Lansbury and Patti LuPone, to name just two -- and Bonham Carter can't hope to match their pipes with her reedy, plaintive voice. With Burton's approach, she doesn't have to. This Mrs. Lovett is almost as internal as Depp's Todd, but while Depp burns with single-minded vengeance, Bonham Carter's face betrays a wide host of conflicting emotions. Inevitably in a movie musical, someone has to be sung to--and it's hard to make such a reactive role interesting. Bonham Carter, though, is so avid that she can make another actor's musical number (especially the late "Not While I'm Around") seem like a duet. She may not have the title role, but Bonham Carter's cockeyed humanity gives Sweeney Todd its beating heart.