Burton outdoes Irving by a country mile (or maybe two)...

Rating: 8/10 (23 February 2000)

At the risk of sounding somewhat heretical to the purists who decry adaptations as inferior product, I cannot claim much affection for Washington Irving. As I was talking to a friend of mine who is a literature major, we both agreed that Irving had a lot of good ideas, BUT his execution of them sucked. I've always found him too wordy, too meandering, and too coma-inducing to be considered interesting (and I've read more classics in the last five years than I did the entire time I went to high school). So, this said, it would have to be Tim Burton who would get Irving's most famous tale right.
While I'm not a fanatical Burton follower, I do have a great deal of respect for his craft and films that many of his detractors lack and I think that I can safely say that this is probably the most serious film of his that I have ever seen. That may sound strange considering the fantastical elements of this story, but unlike previous Burton efforts (and I include the original Batman on this list), Sleepy Hollow feels more grounded in reality, even if more than a few historical liberties were taken. The mystery of the decaptations, which I expected would be rather quickly resolved (after all, practically everybody in America knows who did it, right?), surprisingly turned out to be central to the plot, which I felt was a good move to give the story a solid backbone. However, it is not a mystery in the traditional sense that the audience can figure out the clues with the detective. Burton does drop a few subtle hints that you're likely to miss because THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT HE WANTS YOU TO DO. It seemed to me as though he wanted the audience to follow Ichabod's thinking, deductions, and conclusions rather than veer off on their own, thereby adding to the shock when the real culprit is revealed. Such a style requires subtle, painstaking work and it's to Burton's credit that, in my case at least, he succeeded.
For all it's decaptations, blood, and somber atmosphere, the story does take a few Burtonesque touchs of humor that you can't help but at least smile at. My favorite has to be during the flashback to the Horseman's death (played with over-the-top relish by Christopher Walken). The Horseman makes a shushing sound to the two little blonds he runs into. One of them promptly snaps a branch to get his pursuers' attention. You have to see it to believe it. Another good one is when Nesmith asks Ichabod, "Is he dead?" Ichabod's logical but funny reply: "That's the trouble. He was dead to begin with." There are a lot of others but I won't reveal any more. Rest assured, though, they are there.
Now as to the main cast, what can I say about Johnny Depp (positive or negative) that hasn't been said before? I will say that he is one of my favorite off-beat film actors (still love his stuff in "Ed Wood) and his portrayal of Constable Ichabod Crane (no, you haven't wandered into the wrong movie; that's one of the changes that was added on early) is perhaps one of the most unlikely anti-heroes ever shot on film. A prim and proper shell of a man driven by reason and science, burnt by anguish over a very nasty childhood, Crane brings to mind Sherlock Holmes minus the nerves of steel (his teaming with young Nesmith would seem to verify this observation). This has to be the only movie that I've ever seen where the hero faints more often than the heroine. Speaking of said heroine, Christini Ricci admittedly does not have much to work with, but she infuses what she has with commendable skill. Perhaps one of the reasons for the minimalist screen time/performance was to increase the uncertainty about her true nature. As to what that might be...I'm not going to tell you. Though his name isn't mentioned often, I honestly feel that Casper Van Dien, considering what I have seen of his mediocre acting skills, was born to play the part of the brave but brainless Bram Bones. His best moment has to be his fight with the Horseman (a piece of macabre comedy that Buster Keaton could have admired).
The only other thing I've left to add about the film is that it is best that you pay attention to every detail, major or minor, during the movie. The biggest suprise of the whole film for me was how all the little pieces scattered here and there fit together at the film's climax. It'll be most interesting to see what Burton will pull next from his magic bag of tricks.