Johnny Depp plays Sweeney Todd, a vengeful and deeply disturbed barber who comes back to his home to pay back all the evil he owes to those who have wronged him. Which is of course how he gets his well-earned title The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bohnam Carter) is pleased to assist Todd as he slits the throats of his customers in order to sweeten the pies that she makes. These two characters are just the kind of twisted souls that Depp and Carter excel in portraying.
Certainly not a film for the faint of heart! Everything in
this movie is dark, except the streak of white in Sweeney’s hair…I loved it!
Sure, sure I’m aware this may speak volumes about me but it’s a perfect movie
for the Halloween season. Plus, the acting was impeccable and the music was
haunting and lovely. If you like dark films, musicals AND some twisted, spooky
flare then set your filters to Medium and your lights to Low and prepare
yourself to be dazzled.
Motherly Advice: I had my filters set to Medium and
filtering began from the opening credits. This made us nervous for a potentially
choppy movie ride ahead, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it might be.
Certainly much was cut out but plenty was left in for my taste. What is left
behind are many sinister characters; one with murderous intent, one with
lustful intent, one with deceitful intent and one with an ugly face. From the
beginning you learn that Todd was wrongfully thrown into prison because a Judge
was lusting after his wife. While what actually happens to her once the Judge
gets her is filtered out we do know that it doesn’t end well. Several shots of
a young lady with healthy cleavage in those low cut ‘period’ dresses.
But mostly the content is that Sweeney Todd slits the
throats of his customers as he shaves them and then sends them down the shoot
so that Mrs. Lovett can cook them up into her meat pies. Gross. While you’ll
miss the actual throat slitting and goriness, you’ll still know what is
happening and you’ll see Todd getting all bloody in the process and the towns folk complaining about the smell coming from the place at night. Although the
filter on this one is one of the best I’ve enjoyed from ClearPlay, this movie is
really just for the adults.
Danielle’- ClearPlay Reviewer of Couch Street
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