Good first collaboration of Burton and Depp

Rating: Null/10 (14 September 2003)

It's somewhat distressing to find myself in the awkward position of going backwards. I only got to watch the second Burton/Depp corroboration Sleepy Hollow (1999) a few months ago. Then, for the first time, I have just watched this first Burton/Depp corroboration of 1990. I realise that I must have missed out on the freshness and sense of wonder people watching it for the first time 13 years ago.
While the imagination giving rise of E.S. is not quite as soaring as Almadovar's in creating Talk to Her, it is still quite remarkable. But once the main plot of the Csissorhands has been conceived, the rest is actually not that difficult. Everything else we see is terribly familiar. There is the standard suburban American family. There is the poor boy, middle-class girl and rich brat triangle. There is the lot of busybody townspeople driven by herd instinct.
What makes E.S. stand out is the sensitive as well as sensible treatment of Edward, both in not overplaying the freak aspect and not exaggerating the emotional content. Regardless of Edward's vicissitudes, his mind is simple. An emotional outburst can easily be diverting by a little dog passing by, and the immediately ensuing encounter with an approaching police car naturally triggers survival instincts, but not panics. Depp played the role exceedingly well, as if it is really possible for an actor to experience what a mechanically created man actually feels. Winona Ryder, on the other hand, did not make much of an impression, neither in this movie nor in several subsequent ones including Girl Interrupted and Autumn in New York. Ironically, her best performance to-date is in a movie in which she has only a minor supporting role: S1mOne. Maybe that is the sign of her maturing.
The superb art direction adds much to the enjoyment of this movie. Due credit should also be given to the solidly dependable veterans Dianne Wiest and Alan Arkin. All told, while I must say that I like Sleepy Hollow a little better (for reasons stated in my comments on it), I did enjoy watching Edward Csissorhands a lot.