Will the Real Sweeney Todd Please Stand Up

Johnny Depp was recently nominated for an Oscar, a Best Actor Oscar for his performance as the title character in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. As always Depp did a good job in the movie, creating a man haunted by his past and unable to stop the runaway train of revenge once he gets it rolling. His singing was also fine. But those who haven't seen the stage version with George Hearn and Angela Lansbury are missing out.

Some might call Hearn's performance over the top, I suppose, although viewers do need to remember they are seeing a stage play as opposed to a movie. Gestures, facial movements and the like must be exaggerated to a certain extent for the audience to see them. Once that is put aside, two pretty different Sweeneys emerge from the same script. Depp's is angry and then pitiful. Hearn's is frightening and heartbroken all at the same time. I think Johnny Depp is a great actor, but this role was made for George Hearn.

You can't watch a musical without commenting on the singing; it is obviously an integral part of the experience. As I mentioned, Depp hits the notes and is pleasant enough to listen to. Hearn, however, has a voice for the theater. Because he has such a powerful singing voice, he is able to express more of his character through song. Depp must rely more on the lyrics. Watching just the song when Mrs. Lovett brings out his razor demonstrates the vast differences between these two actors in this role.

Mrs. Lovett is also a big part of the story. Depp is paired with, big surprise, Helena Bonham Carter in a Tim Burton movie. I think this connection keeps going on because nobody except her husband will hire her. She turns in a wooden performance in Sweeney. The meat pie song is Mrs. Lovett's chance to really shine. If you watch Carter's work in this scene, especially with the sound turned off, you will see that the acting is non-existent on her part. Angela Lansbury's Mrs. Lovett is most definitely the comic relief. She is brassy and daft and loveable even after we know what horrible thing she has done. She is a real person rather than a cardboard cutout.

And surprisingly, Lansbury can keep up with Hearn in terms of singing. While she doesn't come across as a trained opera singer, her voice doesn't get swallowed up by his, something that seems like it would happen easily. Carter and Depp have an easier time with this potential problem, one would think, simply because it is a movie where sound mixers can fix the errors. Since both actors in the movie have rather small, shy voices, they blend pretty well together, but Carter's singing style doesn't seem to fit the boisterous character of Mrs. Lovett that comes out of the script any more than her acting style does.

All in all, the new Sweeney with Johnny Depp is not a terrible movie, but I was hard-pressed to watch it after about 15 minutes because I was so frustrated. I found it extremely disappointing overall and was annoyed that Depp was nominated for an Oscar when he has done so much really excellent work elsewhere.

If you want to see the real Sweeney Todd, go get the Hearn/ Lansbury version. I guarantee you will not be disappointed.