Fourteen years ago, Rob Marshall came virtually outta nowhere (well...from the theater world), with Chicago, and delivered an eventual Best Picture winner that – I will declare – left us all rather riveted.
IMHO, that film was remarkable because A) it simultaneously introduced me to a musical I never knew before and made an instant fan out of me, and B) it stated that the guy was one to watch. Except the Best Director nominee then went on to serve us three turkeys in a row (Memoirs of a Geisha, Nine, and the Pirates fourthquel)....
No joke, I got to thinking Marshall would go down the way of M. Night Shyamalan (y’ know, one great film and that’s it) until two Mays ago, when the big-screen adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods started to come together.
I thought, perhaps, this would be his redemption. And it is.
Into the Woods is Marshall’s much-awaited return to form, and a ballsy one at that, which shouldn’t come as much of a surprise considering his track record. While the director has had a few more critical and commercials misses than he has had hits, I am happy to report this one’s one for the latter column. He is, if anything, a risk-taker, and I reckon the success he is enjoying with this one is no small measure due to the fact the material at hand, from everything I’ve read about it, was a doozy to adapt.
Cuts that may give fans of the Tony-winning musical pause – cuts that were discussed at length in the months leading to the film’s Christmas Day release – have been made, but by an expert hand...er...pen: James Lapine, who together with Sondheim birthed the Tony-winning musical, handled the screenplay. And Sondheim himself reportedly was quite involved in the making of the film, even writing new songs for it. The goal, Marshall and Lapine explained during a town hall with the cast last month, was to make it all more cinematic.
Whatever they did, I liked!
And how could I not when Into the Woods features an all-star cast led by Meryl Streep as the Witch, the fabu-creep caster of a spell dooming the Baker and the Baker’s Wife (James Corden and Emily Blunt) to a life without children. I should say that Corden, a Tony winner and the new Late Late guy, and Blunt are these so-incredible revelations; he for his undeniable star quality, and she for her impressive singing ability.
Them alone are worth the price of admission, trust. But....
Since the original musical is a mash-up of fairy-tales that (subversively) explores what probably happened after the beloved characters we all know got their happy endings, the film also features Lilla Crawford as a sorta-super-sassy Little Red Riding Hood who comes across Johnny Depp’s oh-so-jazzy-but-dangerous-no-less Wolf; while another young’un, Daniel Huttlestone, follows his winning turn as Gavroche in Les Misérables, with one as Jack, the boy who encounters his greed up the beanstalk. The invaluable Anna Kendrick co-stars as an ambivalent Cinderella, with Chris Pine as her Prince, a charming, if insincere kind of fella.
Up-and-comer Mackenzie Mauzy is a most-tragic Rapunzel, while
The film’s first half is pretty flawless. Mr. and Mrs. Baker propel the plot, since they are tasked by the Witch with gathering all these magical objects, which leads them to encounter just about everyone else (all of whom, btw, are eagerly journeying toward their own happily ever afters, their every song revealing fears, doubts, and delusions we never imagined before...). The second half isn’t bad, by any means – but it definitely does vibe differently because now the story unfolds predominantly in the wood (a fantasticscape that can’t help but feel somewhat monotonous) and takes us into this uncharted territory that includes death. (Feel free to gasp.)
And you know what? It was all hella wondrous.
The destination may have been unknown (for a fairy-tale), but, with a company like the one Marshall assembled, it was a near-perfect ride.
If only Depp and his Wolf had been more useful....
My Rating ***1/2
Photo: Walt Disney Pictures.
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