BY LOIS WADSWORTH
While rewarding common sense and goodness
CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY:
Directed by Tim Burton. Written by John August, based
on the book by Roald Dahl. Produced by Brad Grey and
Richard D. Zanuck. Executive producers, Patrick
McCormick, Felicity Dahl, Michael Siegel, Graham Burke
and Bruce Berman. Cinematography, Philippe Rousselot.
Production design, Alex McDowell. Costume design,
Gabriella Pescucci. Editor, Chris Lebenzon. Music, Danny
Elfman. Starring Johnny Depp and Freddy Highmore,
with David Kelly, Helena Bonham Carter, Noah Taylor,
Missi Pyle, James Fox, Deep Roy and Christopher Lee.
Warner Bros., 2005. PG. 116 min.
M
aybe I was in the mood for some-
thing wildly imaginative, because I
loved Tim Burton’s over-the-top
Charlie and Chocolate Factory, and I haven’t
always been a Burton fan. Perhaps the ice-
cream chill from the air conditioner on a 96
degree afternoon made me receptive to
Burton’s cool, warped tale of good and bad chil-
dren. I relished seeing the churlish boys and
despicable, snooty girls get their comeuppance.
Whatever alignment of the planets created the
pocket of goodwill I basked in during the film,
I am thankful my inner cynic took the afternoon
off so my child within could have a little fun.
Five lucky children find gold tickets in
Wonka chocolate bars, and they come to the
chocolate factory on the assigned day and time
for a tour. But even before they meet their tour
guide, Willy Wonka (Johnny Depp), the kids
and guardians are treated to an outlandish
musical sketch, in which various dolls present
a Busby Berkeley-type singing, dancing spec-
tacle. But alas, things go awry, which results in
a kill-off of some of the adorable little animat-
ed sugar-plum dollies.
Burton sets the tone for the remainder of
the movie in this scene, touching base with the
strangely innocent cruelty of children toward
their favorite toys. Haven’t you seen an angel-
ic baby slam her favorite stuffed animal or rag
doll on the floor, repeatedly and heedlessly?
How about Christopher Robin dragging Pooh-
Bear down the steps by one arm, thumping
and bumping all the way? Burton honors this
skinny separation between love and not-love
that children exhibit at times.
Depp is fabulous as Wonka, a dandified
only-child grown into an always-smiling,
somewhat vacant and often malevolent host to
the children. Depp perfectly captures the
ambiguous intentions of the character’s origi-
nal creator, Roald Dahl, as well as integrating
Burton and writer John August’s additional
flamboyant, contemporary idiosyncrasies. Our
collective belief in the wacky world inside the
factory depends on how we feel about Wonka.
He’s unable to utter the words “parent” or
“father” because of his own candy-deprived
childhood with a strict father, a dentist played
by Christopher Lee.
I deeply enjoyed the projections of Wonka’s
flustered, disturbed psyche as brought to life by
Depp, Burton and production designer Alex
McDowell. The Bollywood song-and-dance
scenes with the Oompa-Loompas, clones of
Willy Wonka (Johnny Depp),
Charlie Bucket (Freddy
Highmore) and Uncle Joe
(David Kelly) cruising down a
river of chocolate on a
magenta candy sea-
horse powered by
Oompa-Loompas.
WARNER BROS., 2005.
Relishing Wickedness
actor Deep Roy, are both charming and nutso.
The actual squirrels employed in the walnut-
shelling section of the candy factory as well as
the animatronic squirrels in the background are
both cute and too rodent-like to be cuddly.
Likewise, the homage to Stanley Kubrick’s
2001 with the ape-like creatures in silhouette in
the factory’s TV lab send mixed messages. And
the first time the Oompa-Loompas break into
song, you’ll think you’re on the Yellow Brick
Road to Oz for sure.
Freddy Highmore plays Charlie Bucket, a
self-confident lad raised by a large, extended
family in a shabby house that’s falling in
around them. Charlie’s parents (Helena
Bonham Carter and Noah Taylor) as well as
Grandpa Joe (David Kelly) and three other
grandparents make the best of their poverty
with humor and mutual respect. Highmore,
who almost stole Finding Neverland from
Depp and Kate Winslet, is an actor who does-
n’t lose track of himself in his screen por-
trayals, which feel grounded and authentic.
The other children — greedy Augustus
Gloop (Philip Wiegratz); gum-chewing
champ Violet Beauregarde (AnnaSophia
Robb); sociopathic, electronic whiz kid Mike
Teavee (Jordan Fry); and rich, spoiled, nar-
cissist Veruca Salt (Julia Winter) — can be as
bratty as they like. And so they are.
I’ve never seen the 1971 Willy Wonka and
the Chocolate Factory starring Gene Wilder.
Therefore I had nothing to compare to this
film version, which should stand on its own.
It’s the first of Burton’s films I’ve liked in a
long, long time. Charlie and the Chocolate
Factory is now playing at Cinema World and
Cinemark. Highest recommendations. ew
JULY 21, 2005
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