A triumph for Tim Burton

Rating: 7/10 (8 February 2000)

I've always admired Tim Burton's abilities as a visual stylist - his movies always have a unique and totally off the wall look - but I've never been truly satisfied with him as a director. His inability to tell a clear, focused story - or to get anything out of his actors except over the top performances - or to stage action in anything but a perfunctory manner. . . have always made him suspect to me. I felt his promotion to the rank of director was unwarranted - that he should instead be making his living as one of Hollywood's most in demand cinematographers or production designers.
Having seen Sleepy Hollow though, I'd definitely have to say that Burton has made considerable progress. His distinctive visual touch is still present, though he has reigned in some of his wilder extravagances in order not to overwhelm the story. His ability to stage action sequences is much improved, resulting in some truly hair-raising chases and fight scenes (you're left to wonder what his Batman films could have been with this new found talent). Furthermore, the relentless jokiness which usually undermines his movies has been replaced by a brooding and operatic tone which better fit the story. For example, the flashback sequences here provide some of the most haunting and poetic images Burton has ever created - and they feel sincere, as if they come from a very deep and genuine place inside the filmmaker, and are not just flung at us to dazzle and tickle us with his visual ingenuity.
All of which is not to say that Burton is no longer any fun. It's just that he has put his humor into better perspective. There are many nice wry touches in Sleepy Hollow, none more so than in Johnny Depp's truly outstanding performance, which straddles the poles of absurd comedy and genuine heroism. Even as we come to feel for Ichabod Crane and to admire his steeliness and pluck, we are never far removed from laughter at the character's prissiness and squeamishness. Depp walks a real tightrope act here, and it will probably not be to everyone's taste. I thought it was one of the best performances of the year, and represented a perfect marriage between Burton's tendancy toward campy theatrics and his newfound maturity and grace.
Some caveats: Christina Ricci is not used particularly well here; her part is too blandly written to give her prickly screen persona much room to breathe. Too bad, as she would make an ideal Burton heroine (I hasten to add that every other single actor in the movie - including Michael Gambon, Miranda Richardson, Jeffrey Jones, Michael Gough and yes, even Christopher Walken in a wordless cameo - is solid). And what's with this story anyway? It's a pointless bastardization of the original tale. While it's true that the original is pretty threadbare, it is certainly suggestive enough that a writer could spin out compelling backstories and elaborations without having to resort to coming up with a completely new murder mystery plot (which is kind of overplotted and confusing, anyway). But, taken on its own merits, the script certainly works well enough, and anyone not familiar with the original story won't notice anything amiss.
Ok, now that I've said all that - the real reason to see this movie. . . those decapitations! The advertising slogan was "Heads will roll" but never in my wildest imagination could I have guessed with what frequency and in how many different kinds of ways. Burton eschews realism or gory details here, and instead goes for a stylization that is at once giddy, horrifying and strangely beautiful. The fact that each decapitation is played slightly differently - either in how it's shot or how it's perpetrated - keeps it from becoming routine and, indeed, every instance of it involves some new kind of twist or surprise. Some may say Burton is sick for focusing so much attention on this aspect of the story, but this is the Headless Horseman after all, and Burton's courage in not backing away from his grisly deeds gives the monster his full due. Although I wouldn't call the film frightening exactly (that is, to anyone but the most absolutely faint-hearted), it is suffused with a powerful sense of creepiness and dread that prove extremely effective.
All in all, a very enjoyable movie, and a signal of even better works yet to come from Tim Burton.