"Sweeney" Swoons and Splatters

Merry Christmas Eve Day, Darlings! If you're readying TTGP today then your life is pathetic. Nonetheless, I will save my judgments until later this afternoon. Eh hem. Now, Rox went to see the Tim Burton musical "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" yesterday with my 14-year-old niece Evynn. Now, I still get the award for Rox of the year simply because Evynn is very mature for her age (natch that she would get that from her favorite Roxster). However, this is no kiddie tail nor is it for the gore-phobic. Story line: Johnny Depp plays "Sweeney Todd" who, as a young man, was a dashing barber named Benjamin Barker in London with a gorgeous wife and darling baby girl. A corrupt Judge (played marvelously by Professor Snape/Alan Rickman) falls for Barker's wife and has Barker thrown in jail for 15 years without merit. And all hell and ballads break loose. So, clearly, Barker/Depp have some revenge issues. Upon returning to London Barker changes his name and identity to "Sweeney Todd" and runs into Mrs. Lovett who is the worst pie maker in all of London (Played deliciously by Helena Bonham Carter -- Burton's real-life mainsqueeze). Mrs. Lovett tells now-Todd that his wife drank poison and that his daughter was being held against her will by the Judge. Todd plans revenge on all nobility by offering a special version of a shave (namely slitting their throats and killing them). Mrs. Lovett decides business has been slow so takes Todd's, well, newly departed customers and decides to add a little special something (toes, feet, fingers) to her pies making business now look like the only Starbuck's in Boston. This is where the blood/guts come in...but leave it to Burton to make this film so achingly gorgeous, with a score, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, a masterpiece -- a tragic love story of the very evilish and delightful. Rox could have done without all of the throat-slitting scenes and flying blood...could you have "shown" the revenge without showing it so much, Timmy? But the stars here are Johnny Depp -- he can sing, he can act, he can do anything. He's by far the most talented actor around...who else can take the art of being a character actor while playing the leading man? And Bonham Carter who is so lovely and innocently (or not so innocently) able to partake in all of this ... all in the name of love. The songs are fantastic ("Pretty Women" with Depp and Rickman is aboslutely amazing and "Nothing's Gonna Harm You" is heartbreaking), the singing isn't roof-raising (and it doesn't need to be) but the singing is so well ACTED that you almost forget they are singing -- now THAT is a feet (pun intended, darlings). The only problem I see with "Sweeney" is who the hell will be able to understand the marketing of the movie to actually want to see this movie? Dollars don't always make sense. And they're going to be missing out. The good news is this movie did about as well as "Charlie Wilson's War" with Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts (about $10 million this weekend) but was only showing in about 1/2 the number of theaters as "War." That's a good sign! TTGP gives "Sweeney" 4.75 pops out of six-pack...especially in this cut-throat Christmas season...(had to do it)...