Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Film review

This candyman can't

Tim Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a visual treat that's missing the magic.

By STEVE PERSALL
Published July 14, 2005

[Photo: Warner Bros.]

Deep Roy was digitally replicated to form the Ooompa Loompas, Willy Wonka’s assistants.

	[Times files]
	Gene Wilder played a more threatening version of the title role in 1971’s Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
	A chat with Willy Wonka Once known as a Hollywood bad boy, Johnny Depp has grown into more of a suburban dad.
	Coming to a darkened room near you Some things old, a handful new, some borrowed plots and a bit of boo: Summer films again marry the proven and the preposterous to lure fans to the movie theater. (5/19/05)

How does such a can't-miss project miss by such a wide margin? We have Roald Dahl's classic book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, an imaginative filmmaker like Tim Burton, and the incomparable Johnny Depp immersing himself into another odd role, this time as Willy Wonka, the candy man with a dark nougat center.

With those wonderful ingredients, the lack of magic in Burton's movie is the most puzzling thing about his entirely bizarre career. This film can truly be compared to cotton candy; spun from sugar and hot air into an impressive mound of prettiness, yet with such a flimsy consistency that it could compress into practically nothing. In a movie year packed with disappointments, this one tops them all. So far.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory isn't a bad movie, just one confirming how unnecessary it is with each passing minute. It's a textbook example of set design and costuming, with confectionary landscapes that could boost concession stand sales through sheer power of suggestion. But there's little dramatic or comedic meat to complement the visual desserts. Even Dahl's simple, central theme - that rude, gluttonous and spoiled children don't deserve treats - is muted by Burton's strangely passive style.

The easiest problem to point out is Depp's weird portrayal of Wonka, for its quirks and his reluctance to take the character to any edge. Wonka is merely a silly conversationalist, and Burton fleshes out some reasons for his eccentricity that Dahl skipped. But Wonka never seems as creepy as he should be, portraying as a recluse living with Ooompa Loompas and genially torturing bad children. Jim Carrey's Count Olaf in the Lemony Snicket flick was closer to what this movie needs.

Or at least something nearer to the spirit of Gene Wilder's turn as Wonka in 1971's Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Wilder played the man-child as a cipher, casually tossing out threats and, with wide eyes and singsong pregnant pauses, creating an unnerving presence. Depp's Wonka is the clown hired for a birthday party, and John August's adapted screenplay seldom allows him to be menacing.

Freddie Highmore, Depp's co-star in Finding Neverland, is a perfect choice to play Charlie Bucket, an impossibly kind boy living in Dickensian poverty with his parents and both sets of grandparents. He's one of five children winning golden tickets to visit Wonka's candy factory, with a surprise prize waiting. Highmore oozes sincerity with each line reading, and a smile that could melt a Snickers bar. Depp's best moments are in tandem with Highmore, since young Charlie brings out the gentle side that Depp is bound and determined to play.

The other children and their enabling parents are a capably obnoxious lot. Gum-cracking Violet Beauregarde (Annasophia Robb) and her mother (Missi Pyle) inspire a few absurd moments that are pure Burton. Veruca Salt (Julia Winter) is a supreme brat, spoiled by a milquetoast father (James Fox). Destructive Mike Teavee (Jordon Fry) and overeater Augustus Gloop (Philip Wiegratz) have fun tearing up the scenery.

Each child - except Charlie, of course - gets his or her comeuppance in some confectionary fashion, followed by Burton's worst mistake: combining Dahl's lyrics (that are fun on the printed page) with Danny Elfman's music for attention-deadening songs performed by Ooompa Loompas after each punishment. None will have you leaving the theater humming. The dance numbers Burton stages around them are occasionally brilliant, including references to Bollywood and movie choreographer Busby Berkeley, but they still slow the movie to molasses.

And it's a neat idea to cast one small person, Deep Roy, as every Ooompa Loompa, digitally replicated to form Wonka's army of assistants. But the effect goes stale halfway through the movie, and Roy's humorless face everywhere becomes an irritating constant. When Burton needs less, he gives more, and when the movie needs more - comedy, pathos, or just pure sickness - the director retreats. Who can take a classic, sprinkle it with detachment and create an interesting bore? The Beetlejuice man can.

Grade: C+

Director: Tim Burton

Cast: Johnny Depp, Freddie Highmore, David Kelly, Helena Bonham Carter, Noah Taylor, Missi Pyle, James Fox, Annasophia Robb, Deep Roy, Christopher Lee

Screenplay: John August, based on the novel by Roald Dahl

Rating: PG; mild peril for children

Running time: 120 min.

Johnny Depp says he was careful not to imitate Gene Wilder in his portrayal of Willy Wonka. Having compared Depp's 2005 Wonka with Wilder's 1971 Wonka, we're inclined to agree.

Depp told the Australian Associated Press he loosely based his portrayal on eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes.

But what about that look? The pale, oddly ageless complexion? The Prince Valiant haircut? The frock coat and goggles?

Here's who Depp's Wonka made us think of:

Michael Jackson, acquitted King of Pop.

Lord Farquaad (from Shrek).

Anna Wintour, Vogue editor.

Eve Ensler (Vagina Monologues playwright).

Edna Mode (from The Incredibles).

Emo Philips, comedian.

[Last modified July 13, 2005, 09:36:06]