it's the script, stupid...

Rating: 8/10 (15 May 2004)

Due to circumstances beyond my control, I have watched this film three times in the past six months. To be frank, it's taken me that many viewings to get to grips with the plot, and to appreciate that the main star is not in fact Johnny Depp - who seems, albeit understandably, to have emerged as the new Valentino - but the scriptwriter. Those wonderful understated supporting performances, notably by the Tweedledum and Tweedledee of the British navy, were enabled - as was the virtuoso and richly-imagined representation of Jack Sparrow - by their witty and precisely crafted speech. And as for Depp, are we all absolutely sure it isn't his character we've fallen in love with? After all, I don't remember anyone saying that Edward Scissorhands was the sexiest man in the world.