Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street – Tim Burton reunites (again and again) with his alter-ego Johnny Depp, in this, their second hair dresser movie – the first was “Edward Scissorhands” back in 1990. As a matter of fact, Depp’s character Todd looks like he’s stepped out of Scissorhands and moved into the barber’s chair… twenty years later. And angrier. The story is based on the Broadway musical, circa London 19th century, about a young barber (Depp) whose wife and baby are taken by the evil town judge (Alan Rickman) never to be seen or heard from again. Fast forward years later and the barber – with Cruella De Ville white streaked hair – emerges as Sweeney Todd, knocking on the door of Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter) a crazy pie baker, who just happens to know what happened to them. The two develop a sinister plan as they sing and cavort to Steven Sondheim’s musical and cynical lyrics, looking more like siblings separated at birth (with their matching disheveled hair-dos and black/blue eyes perfectly offsetting their cheekbones set in china doll skin). No doubt you’ll recognize them as a version of Burton’s “Corpse Bride” come to life. No doubt you’ll recognize bits and pieces of this entire movie in the Tim Burton movies we’ve seen before. But more than all that, Bonham Carter and Depp work off each other with such an effortless zest. Mrs. Lovett loves life and loves him, while Todd is depressed and introverted. Nevertheless, the audience roars over this comic tragedy, clapping after each musical number as though they were watching a live stage performance. “Borats” Sacha Baron Cohen adds to the merriment as Signor Pirelli, upstaging Depp whenever the two share a scene. No doubt they’ll all be nominated for an Oscar of some sort, but it’s Burton’s real-life wife Bonham Carter, who is very at home in roles that ostracize her from the public. Think of all her past performances including the lone crazy woman in “Margaret’s Museum,” the witch in “Big Fish,” or Marina Oswald in “Fatal Deception: Mrs. Lee Harvey Oswald. A bloody good time (remember how heads rolled in “Sleepy Hollow?”) with an R rating that delivers an intelligent version of gore. Something all those “Saw 4” movies can’t quite capture. Four tiaras
