One day when I was in high school, I was flipping through my local PBS station when I stopped on a stage production of SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET by Steven Sondheim. Inexplicably caught in its tractor-beam, I watched until one moment struck me like a bolt of lightning. The baritone lead slit a man’s throat then sang a ballad to his razor-blade. “Rest now my friend,” he roared. At that instant, I was hooked.
Needless to say, I’ve been looking forward to a film adaptation of this musical for a long time. While Johnny Depp seemed like the wrong actor to play the former Benjamin Barker, I thought Tim Burton was the perfect director to realize this movie musical.
The resulting film didn’t ruin the show for me but it didn’t take the source material to new heights. Yes, Johnny Depp’s singing was better than I expected (better than Helena Bonham Carter‘s, I’m sad to report) and Tim Burton indulges in the Grand Guignol imagery but he doesn’t mine any of the emotional possibilities of the show. I feel like he could have easily done a lot more with the material but refused to do anything other than add his visual touch. I’m sorry to report that this film feels like the work of a tremendous craftsman but the artist is nowhere in sight. Does the movie look great? Yes. Will this film haunt me for years to come? No, it’s already fading from memory.
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