DVD: Charlie & the Chocolate Factory


Odd little movie, definitely worth a viewing.

Johnny Depp is steadfastly adding to his long list of quirky characterizations that puzzle and fascinate. And Tim Burton seems to have lost a bit of his steadfast devotion to unique and immediately recognizable "Burton-esque" visualizations.

On Depp: one cannot imagine how he came up with this Willy Wonka persona. As an actor it is really intriguing to watch him in action. He has made such definite and distinct choices, and frankly that is 90% of any good performance. But the choices are so off the wall that a part of you is standing aside trying to justify them yourself. Unsuccessfully.

On Burton: There are a few individual images that stand out...the Bucket house, literally a "lean-to" being the most notable example. But many of the images seem very little changed form the original movie. I for one was hoping for something more from the Chocolate waterfall room, but it seemed to me to be almost exactly the same as the other movie's rendition of it. I didn't really get into the Oompa Loompas as played by one actor, Deep Roy. If that's the big visual trick Burton had in his bag, it left something to be desired.

Freddie Highmore is today's Haley Joel Osment. A sensitive child actor without an ounce of self-consciousness or smarm. The other child actors are appropriately obnoxious, with the Mike Teevee being the scariest person on screen.

As my S.O. said somewhat near the end of the film. "It's really more of an odd and interesting film, more than an entertaining one."

Yup.

I loved this book. I love the original movie (and have seen it countless times.) I am fascinated by just about everything Johnny Depp does. But I don't feel motivated to see the film again, and that's usually a sign that something's missing. Don't get me wrong, though: if you enjoy watching a really fearless and creative actor at work, you gotta check out Depp's Willy Wonka.

Buy Charlie & the Chocolate Factory on Amazon.com

Posted: Thu - December 22, 2005 at 10:44 AM       EmailFeedback

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