Beautifully crazy, like all of Burton's good work

Rating: Null/10 (9 January 2000)

A reworking of a classic Washington Irving short story, "Sleepy Hollow" was expected to be Tim Burton gone subtle, and his prestigious bid for Oscar success. But it is in fact as distinctively crazy as all the rest of Burton's work -- a visually splendid, thoroughly exciting special-effects extravaganza set in 1799 that plays like a cross between Thomas Hardy and "The Evil Dead". Johnny Depp hilariously reinvents the famous literary figure Ichabod Crane; the superb visuals make the action climax stunning, and redeem some of the slow, confusing patches along the way. This film is further proof that the offbeat crannies of Burton's director's mind are worth visiting, and he knows how to take us into them.