Into the Woods

22 February 2016

Into the Woods 2014

• Director: Rob Marshall
• Based on book: no.
• Cast: Johnny Depp, Emily Blunt, Meryl Streep, Anna Kendrick, Daniel Huttlestone, James Corden, Christine Baranski, Tracey Ullman, Lilla Crawford, Simon Russell Beale, Billy Magnusson, Mackenzie Mauzy, Annette Crosbie, Chris Pine, Frances de la Tour
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Johnny Depp – Mortdecai, Transcendence, The Lone Ranger, Dark Shadows, Life’s Too Short, The Rum Diary, Pirates of the Caribbean 1-4, Rango, The Tourist, Alice in Wonderland, Public Enemies, The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus, Sweeney Todd, Corpse Bride, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Libertine, Finding Neverland, Secret Window, Once upon a Time in Mexico, From Hell, Blow, Chocolat, Before Night Falls, The Man Who Cried, Sleepy Hollow, The Astronaut’s Wife, The Ninth Gate, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, The Brave, Donnie Brasco, Nick of Time, Dead Man, Don Juan DeMarco, Ed Wood, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Benny and Joon, Arizona Dream, Edward Scissorhands, Cry Baby, Platoon, Slow Burn, Nightmare on Elm Street  
• Emily Blunt – Edge of Tomorrow, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, The Young Victoria, Sunshine Cleaning, Dan in Real Life, The Jane Austin Book Club, My Summer of Love
• Meryl Streep  – Mamma Mia, A Prairie Home Companion, Angels in America, The Hours, Music of the Heart, Marvin’s Room, The Bridges of Madison County, The House of the Spirits, Defending Your Life, Postcards from the Edge, Ironweed, Out of Africa, Sophie’s Choice, Silkwood, The French Lieutenant’s Woman, Kramer vs Kramer, Deer Hunter, Holocaust, Julia
• Anna Kendrick – Pitch Perfect, Scott Pilgrim vs the World, Twilight
• Daniel Huttlestone – Les Misérables
• James Corden – Starter for 10, Little Britain, Whatever Happened to Harold Smith
• Christine Baranski – The Big Bang Theory, Mamma Mia, Chicago, Bulworth, Third Rock from the Sun, Reversal of Fortune, Playing for Time
• Simon Russell Beale – The Hollow Crown Henry IV Parts 1 & 2, This England, My Week with Marilyn, The Deep Blue Sea, Hamlet, Orlando
• Annette Crosbie – William and Mary, Calendar Girls, An Unsuitable Job for a Woman, Oliver Twist, Shooting Fish, Pericles Prince of Tyre, Richard III, Twelfth Night
• Frances de la Tour – Vicious, Hugo, Harry Potter, Alice in Wonderland, The Book of Eli, Cold Lazarus
• Why? Johnny Depp and Emily Blunt
• Seen:  19 February 2016      

       One continues to hope that Johnny Depp will be in a good movie again soon. It has been a while. Could this be the one? On the plus side: a good cast. Possibly the fact that it is a musical. That could be on the minus side as well and the fact that it’s a fairy tale.

       It’s actually a mix of fairy tales: Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood. Who all start with a song. ‘I wish.’

       What’s this?  I like it! Clever, funny, dramatic, great music. It reminds me of the music to Sweeney Todd. Ah, it’s Stephen Sondheim. No wonder.

       Johnny Depp as the Big Bad Wolf. Oh, cool.

       A baker and his wife (Emily Blunt) have been cursed by the witch next door (Meryl Streep) to be childless. To break the curse, they must fetch a red cape, a golden slipper, hair as yellow as corn and a white cow. Thus the four fairy tales are intertwined.

       The fairy tales work themselves out. And then the film takes an unexpected twist. And then another. And then another.

       What can I say? I’m under its spell from start to finish. Johnny Depp’s role is very small but he’s classic Johnny Depp. Welcome back!

4 * of 5