No Matter How You Slice It, "Sweeney Todd" Soars

Blake Hampton is a deacon at Unity First. He's one of the few deacons, along with Larry and Ned, who meet with me for breakfast a couple times every week at Riley's Diner. Seems Blake found out I did a movie review on this blog and invited me to go with him to see a movie. I told him I'd go because I was thinking about reviewing another movie anyways. Seems like a pretty easy job.

Blake's an English teacher at the high school here in Unity. He directs all the school's spring musicals. Folks say they're pretty good, but I've never been one much for musicals. Had I been thinking, I would of asked what movie he wanted to see. Turns out it was "Sweeney Todd." So I'm stuck. I wouldn't mind musicals so much if they wouldn't have all that singing.

I don't get what it is that folks like about musicals. People just don't break out into song in real life. Why should they in a movie? Anyways, seems Sweeney Todd (Johnny Depp) is this barber who was sent away to prison on trumped-up charges. He's returning to London 15 or so years later to be reunited with his wife and daughter. I think he escaped, I wasn't really sure. Trouble is, he learns his wife poisoned herself and his infant daughter, now grown up, is being raised as the ward of the very man, Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman), who sent him to prison so he could get his paws on Sweeney's wife. You following all this?

Sweeney's real name is Benjamin Barker. Sweeney wants revenge on the pervert judge for destroying his life and his family. As he tells Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter), a woman who makes the worst meat pies in London, when she figures out Sweeney's real identity, "It's Todd now. Sweeney Todd. And he will have his revenge." Later, after savagely killing someone who threatens to unravel his plan for revenge, Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett cook up this plan where he kills some of his customers -- folks they figure aren't going to be missed -- and Mrs. Lovett grinds them up and bakes them into her meat pies. Her new recipe turns out to be a big hit with the customers.

Murdering their neighbors don't bother these two. Mrs. Lovett is glad to be rolling in the dough, and Sweeney doesn't care because his obsession for revenge has him figuring that no one deserves to live. They're either evil and deserve death, or they're oppressed by evil people and should welcome death as a release. All Sweeney cares about is waiting for his chance for revenge against the judge and his henchman.

I hate to get too spiritual on you, but "Sweeney Todd" got me to thinking about this story in the book of Judges. There was this guy named Jotham who's brother, Abimelech, had all seventy of his brothers killed. That's a far bigger body count than in "Sweeney Todd." Jotham was the only one to escape. You'd think he'd be itching for revenge. He sure had reason to. Instead, he told the people of Shechem, who helped Abimelech kill his brothers, that if their motives were pure, he wished them joy. But if their motives were evil, he hoped that fire would consume them. With that happy thought, he fled and went into hiding.

Three years went by. No fires consumed Abimelech or the people of Shechem. They must have been feeling pretty good about that. But it was after three years that God decided it was time to repay them for their wickedness. Abimelech was getting ready to light a tower on fire to kill all the men and women inside when a woman drops a large rock that cracks his skull real good. He must have saw it coming because he ordered one of his men to kill him so that it couldn't be said that he was killed by a woman. Classy to the end, ain't he?

Jotham recognized what Sweeney Todd couldn't see. God will repay people for their evil. It may not be in the time frame that we want, and it sure ain't our job to seek out revenge. In our own small ways, we can be a lot like Sweeney in our petty desires to hold grudges or wish the worst for others. When we want revenge on our terms, we will destroy ourselves and all that we love.

Even though it was a musical, I ended up liking "Sweeney Todd." The songs were real good, especially "Johanna," "Not While I'm Around" and "A Little Priest." The movie's rated R for good reason. There's lots of violent and bloody deaths once Sweeney begins his rampage. Still, it's strong message about obsessive revenge makes me give it four cups of coffee. Just don't any of you tell Blake that I liked it.