Summary:

Young Charlie Bucket (Freddie Highmore) lives a happy but poverty stricken life with his parents in a tiny tumble-down house in the shadow of the mysterious chocolate factory of the even more mysterious Willy Wonka (Johnny Depp). Charlie becomes one of the only five children in the world to win a trip through the factory and it changes his life.

Steve says:

I can’t think of a property more suited to the boundless imagination of Tim Burton than Roald Dahl’s classic tale, CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY. While Dahl was best known as a writer of children’s fiction such as JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH, he was also noted as a craftsman of short stories in the psychological horror genre.  In CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, he melded the two genres into something that one might call, sinister/kiddie. Burton’s skewed sensibilities lend themselves beautifully to this re-telling of this Dahl’s story. Burton freely admits that he was not a fan of WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY and set out to make a film more directly derived from the original story rather than simply settling for a remake of the 1971 film. Since that movie holds dear memories for a whole generation, he had his work cut out for him. For my money, he succeeds.

Johnny Depp, in his fourth collaboration with Burton, is a perfect choice for a slightly darker Wonka than Gene Wilder portrayed in the first film. From his first appearance, you feel there is something dark and unsettling about him. Depp’s creativity as an actor is well used in his portrayal of the Howard Hughes of candy-making. He affects a fey, slightly higher pitched voice for this Willy Wonka. Since he admitted to using aspects of Keith Richards for his portrayal of Jack Sparrow in PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN, it naturally gives us pause to wonder who inspired Depp this time out. Michael Jackson, anyone?

When he was in early talks with Burton about playing Wonka, Depp passed along the name of Freddie Highmore, with whom he had just shared the screen in FINDING NEVERLAND. It was a great call. Highmore is a gifted young performer and he brings a lot to the party in this film. The other children do an okay job of acting their roles while Highmore simply becomes Charlie. His performance is as nuanced as that of any adult actor.

Modern special effects allow Indian actor Deep Roy to play not one but all of the Ooompa Loompas. The hundreds of tiny factory workers double as a musical Greek chorus, commenting on the action in a series of production numbers that lean heavily on everything from SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER to the Busby Berkeley epics of the 30’s and 40’s.

John August’s script grafts on a backstory for Wonka, dealing with his overbearing and sinister dentist of a father who won’t allow him to eat candy. (Or course he’s sinister...he’s played by Christopher Lee). The element, which does not appear in the book or the earlier film, detracts from the mystery who or what Willy Wonka is. It could and should have been cut as it simply slows down the momentum of the tale.

I hope Depp and Burton continue their creative partnership for many films to come.  The work they have produced together, EDWARD SCISSORHANDS, ED WOOD, THE  LEGEND OF SLEEP HOLLOW and now CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY are each vastly different from the other. Depp as actor and Burton as director both hate the notion of repeating themselves. So when you go see something they’ve done together, there’s an excellent chance that you’ll see something wholly original and unexpected.

CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY is suitable for very young audiences, despite its dark underbelly. But there is something there for the whole family. I recommend it.

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Patty says:

A slightly darker Wonka?  That’s like describing Sandra Day O’Connor as a slightly smarter Judge Judy.  Depp was dark, he was spooky and Burton went to great pains to let us know why.  Without giving away too many plot points here, the wacky Wonka wrestles with his own wellish….er….hellish childhood memories as he eliminates prospective heirs to the Wonka candy empire.  One, by one, the little urchins fall prey to their own brattiness and end up sidelined.  Of course we know that Charlie will eventually triumph, but Burton keeps us hanging, wondering if Charlie will accept the challenge and become the Wonka heir apparent.  And with Burton, one never knows.

I’m a huge Burton fan.  His work is smart and edgy and his films are also so tonally different.  In CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, shades of gray in the world outside of the chocolate factory are broken by a single red, white and blue barber pole…or blonde streaks in a woman’s hair.  It’s such an interesting way of creating the contrast in Wonka’s world.  It sets the tone for the disparity between Wonka’s dark view of life and people and the colorful candy world that he created.  Although Wonka can escape the outside world, he realizes that he will eventually age and die without an heir to continue producing Wonka’s extraordinary candies.  Through his contest, he finds five children who range temperamentally from Charlie’s saccharin sweetness to the whiny Veruca Salt, who makes Ann Coulter look like Mother Theresa.  All the children were well-cast in their roles but of course young Highmore stole the show.  He out-doe-eyed Depp.  And that’s sayin’ something.

Talk about a legitimate reason to outlaw cloning, the Ooompa Loompas were bizarre.  Hundreds of identical Deep Roy’s masterfully choreographed and costumed was scarier than any monster under the bed as far as I’m concerned.  No pyrotechnics, no gore, no violence….but nevertheless an image you don’t want to have lingering in your head as you try to fall asleep.  It’s like trying to explain why a toy clown has to be covered by a towel if it’s looking at you while you’re drifting off.  It’s like thinking about Grandpa naked.  Ewwwwwwwwww.

CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY was sweet.  It’s a kid show gone wrong, but the kids seemed to love it.  This kid did.


4 kernels...candy corn, of course.

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July 17, 2005