Bitter Chocolate

Rating: Null/10 (13 August 2005)

Looks like I'm a lone voice in the wilderness here but those are the breaks. If I want to see a fantasy involving a boy named Charlie I'll stick to Cedric Kahn's charming 'L'Avion' made for probably a 20th of Burton's budget and barely a special effect in sight. I've never been much of a Burton fan - unless we're talking Richard - though I appreciate and accept that each generation needs an eccentric/rebellious/avant garde call it what you will figure and Burton seems to be this season's Godard. Okay, I don't have to go to his movies if I don't want to and mostly I don't want to but this time I read all the hype and thought well, why not, he has to make a half-decent movie SOME time so maybe this is it. Alas! I'm not much of a Depp fan either so I had a lot of prejudice to overcome but I gave it the old college try only to find myself falling asleep. I haven't seen the original Gene Wilder version so I have nothing to use for comparison but I found it screamingly obvious from the initial shot of chez Bucket, a blatant 'steal' from the National Theatre production of 'An Inspector Calls' to the 'cute' homilies 'my family is more important to me than anything' and only WE the audience can see these Addams Family first-drafts as the grotesques they are. I guess I saw it on an off day: My seat was facing the screen.