Excellent and Brilliant, with a few undeniable flaws

Rating: 7/10 (4 January 2008)

I'm a self-professed Sondheim fanatic. I have seen nearly all of the shows he has ever written and own all of his recordings, including songs for shows that have almost NEVER been performed, (i.e. Saturday Night, The Frogs). I was lucky enough to see Todd onstage twice in Repertory and then ultimately seeing the newest Broadway version with Patti Lupone and Michael Cerveris. Although I'm no one special, I think I can at least safely step away from my own love for Sondheim and be completely honest and truthful about the screen version of Todd. I'm not writing this to praise or bash the movie. I've seen it twice now and believe I can accurately and fairly assess its short comings and its triumphs. A lot of my own personal predictions came true. I knew(and everyone else did considering Burton got Dante Ferretti to design) that the sets would be fantastic. Also, the costumes and cinematography were excellent on all levels. That being said, let's get down to it. I knew Depp wouldn't be able to sing it full out like Hearn, Cariou, or Cerveris, because hell, he smokes like a fiend and he's just not a trained singer. And for those who don't know it, Sondheim music is not only extremely difficult to sing, I also do musicals and at some auditions they won't allow you to try out with Sondheim music! The one thing that Depp had going for him was that he is brilliant actor. And he used that to his advantage. AND, as an added bonus, he CAN SING! Sure, its not pretty, and die hard fans' hearts sink just a tad when he doesn't hit those awesome notes that Sondheim has written, but who cares? If he can't hit it, at least he's acting the crap out of the material, that, I have to admit is enough for me. Helena, Helena, Helena...how I loved thee in Fight Club, Big Fish, Wings of the Dove, etc...but it just didn't work. I'm being absolutely honest here. I think I know exactly how she decided to work the part. She realized that Lansbury's performance is VERY big and VERY in your face. So she tried to humanize the character AND make it more subtle. LOVE her, but big mistake. The problem is, her weird, breathy sing-song voice was at times a tad annoying, but more importantly, I think it was actually negating the very essence of her character. The things that she does in the movie are unspeakable, yet she feels like such a weak character compared to the force of nature as written. I just didn't like her singing. Sorry to say it, wanted to very badly, but I just think that Burton shouldn't have let her do it. When I found out it could have been Annette Bening or Toni Collette, it just kills me. Especially Toni Collette, who was excellent in The Wild Party. Alan Rickman, for a role VERY much reduced in the movie version, is solid. No great singer, but haven't we heard that before concerning this movie? Echo...echo... Anyhoo, he was fine, but for me, it was Timothy Spall who stole his thunder. Big fan of his Mike Leigh work, and is he not just the nastiest, greasiest mofo on the block? Just so nasty and awesome! Perfectly embodied the character. Casting Sacha Baron Cohen as Pirelli luckily served two purposes. Uno, it gave him a great part that he played with aplomb(we even get to hear his real voice! which is a rarity, since I don't count his Ali G voice as being completely real when he does it), and the other purpose is to lift the film up, not that it sags, but people need a lift after such a brooding opening hour, so it helps. The young lovers are cute. Anthony is far too pretty and really doesn't make me think he wants Johanna. I think she was good. The kid who played Toby could sing, but man was he stiff. I mean, really, sell it kid! Sell it! But for me, I will forever be indebted to Tim Burton. He did it right. He remained faithful and even improved on some things. He did an awesome job and I hope he's nominated.