Exactly how a wonderful story such as Sweeney Todd should be told. Everything about this production is head and shoulders above everything else. First up, we have the setting. This is truly a disgusting London, filled with waste and disease. Next we have Winstone, giving an astonishing performance. It shows how someone like Depp is a performer, but fails to attach himself to the emotional complexity of such a character. Winstone doesn't just decide that people are scum and start offing them. His first kill is a sudden and regrettable impulse. He even checks on the body later in the hopes that he isn't dead. Like so many real-life killers, Winstone's motivations come from a deep rooted psychological trauma. As he continues, the killing becomes the norm. It's his answer to vengeance, suspicion, and his way of attracting a woman. Davis is also brilliant as Lovett. For once this isn't some creepy madwoman, but a fragile and easily manipulated pawn. I can't speak highly enough of this film, or the way it demonstrates how stories from over a hundred years ago, can still be fresh and involving.
Review of Sweeney Todd
