Usually I hate it when a stage musical makes it to the silver screen and has had musical numbers copped up, rearranged or left out completely. Don't get me wrong, I sometimes understand why this was done...but I don't necessarily agree with it (it tends to be laziness on the part of the writers & directors who can't figure out how to make that puzzle piece work). It also doesn't detract from my enjoyment (or dislike) of the film version at the end of the day as I can see the difference between the two medium.
All that being said, the film version of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street has been stripped down to its core essentials. And this is not a bad thing at all. Don't get me wrong, I love the stage version. It is arguably the greatest musical of the late 20th Century. But it is very theatrical in its construction, especially in regards to the chorus that comes in every so often to sing "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd" and comment on the proceedings. All of that has been eliminated from here. The love story between Anthony and Johanna has also been paired down to the bare essentials by having a few of their numbers also left out.
The removal and changes only cause two musical problems in my mind. The first is in regards to the song "God, That's Good". Because of some rearranging to the story about when and how Todd adds the chute to his barber shop, certain aspects of this number had to be eliminated (since on stage the new chair is being delivered during the number and on screen Todd builds it himself prior to this scene). It is now essentially a short duet sung by Toby and Mrs. Lovett.
The second problem is with the very end. On stage, after all the grisly proceedings have played out, the chorus returns to comment on them and the play is wrapped up on a nice musical note. Being a musical it should end on a nice musical note (using the term figuratively). Having eliminated the chorus, the film just stops musically...heck it just stops entirely. It doesn't ruin the film by any means, but I feel it doesn't give us any real resolution.
As far as the actors are concerned, I was very surprised. I thought Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter were a bit on the young side for the parts, but here the entire cast has been aged down (Anthony & Johanna are in their late teens, Toby is just entering his teens) and it all makes sense. Both Depp and Bonham Carter are quite good vocally and both give very different interpretations of the characters (for the first time I actually felt that Mrs. Lovett could have a nurturing mother within her...maybe because the film version is less screechy). The rest of the cast comes off well both acting and vocally with only Timothy Spall's Beadle Bamford being weak on the vocals (luckily his vocal needs have been paired down to one song here).
Director Tim Burton has created a great movie musical that has a wonderous look to it from material that stands the test of time. While the big screen version of Sweeney Todd may be different enough from the stage version to make comparisons inevitable, it is a great version in its own right and is easily one of the best films of the year.
We also got around to catching a few films we missed in theaters:
The Darjeeling Limited -- Wes Anderson's films tend to have a dry humor that I like. I found this to be his "least" film yet. There are some moments and some fine acting, but all in all, I think his previous movies are better (please realize that I was watching this on our flight home from California...so that may have colored my view of the film).
Live Free or Die Hard -- While I love John McClane as a character (we even put the Die Hard Palz action figures on our Christmas Tree/Hannukah Bush/Holiday Shrub in a neat "scene" I should have taken pictures of...maybe next year), this feels like its a day late and a dollar short (well...12 years late and many millions of dollars short). Yeah, its still a fun film with some neat connections to the previous films...but when you've got to fill Samuel L. Jackson's shoes as the "sidekick", I'm not sure Justin Long's gonna cut it. And when the villains are worse than those from Die Hard 2: Die Harder (and played by Timothy Olephant to boot), you know we're moving in the wrong direction.
Waitress -- Hmmm....could be the best film I saw from 2007. You'll have to wait for my Top 25 list to find out (still cranking out viewings until the Oscars...assuming they happen since the strike seems to be killing everything).
Next time: A Multitude of MiniMates Makes Me Mad
Be seeing you
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