OVP: Into the Woods (2014)

Film: Into the Woods (2014)
Stars: Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, James Corden, Anna Kendrick, Chris Pine, Johnny Depp, Lilla Crawford, Daniel Huttlestone, Tracey Ullman, Billy Magnussen
Director: Rob Marshall
Oscar History: 3 nominations (Best Supporting Actress-Meryl Streep, Costume, Production Design)
Snap Judgment Ranking: 4/5 stars

I will admit right up front that I know next to nothing about the original Sondheim production of Into the Woods, at least I didn't before seeing this movie.  I have been (in the past five years) a major convert into the world of live theatre, a lover of it even, but that doesn't mean that I grew up with it in the same way that I did movies, and that I was someone who studied it in high school or college (again, like I did with movies).  So I am going into the Woods without pre-conceptions, something that most reviewers that I've read have not been able to dismiss.  Everyone seems to have judged the film based on what numbers were extended or altered or excluded, and what alterations were made to the plot.  I have none of these hang-ups, so if you're like me, this may be the best place you could find to share your feelings (comments are below, but spoilers ahead so see the film first).

(Spoilers Ahead) The film, as already stated, is based on the much-beloved musical by Stephen Sondheim.  The film tells revamped stories of Cinderella (Kendrick), Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood (Crawford), and Jack (with his Beanstock) (Huttlestone), as well as a new fairy tale involving a baker (Corden), his wife (Blunt), and a witch who has put a curse on the couple (Streep).  The movie follows them through their journey into the woods, as they set about a course of events that ends up having a series of terrible consequences for several involved.  There's a reason that the spoiler alert is needed: at least two of these characters don't make it until the end, and one of them isn't obvious based on filmic cliches about who lives and who dies.

The film is absolutely riveting in the first twenty minutes or so, in what has to be one of the best-staged musical numbers in recent years on film.  Most modern movies wouldn't do something so expansive as to have a nearly uninterrupted twenty minutes of singing, but this is Sondheim and it needs to be different.  The entire opening number introduces us quite quickly to nearly every character of consequence (save for the princes) and establishes them all.  It's really wonderful film-making, and while I don't care if it was in the original (if I were reviewing the original Broadway production I would care), it definitely feels like Sondheim through-and-through.

The musical rarely reaches this level of perfection (though the comic "Agony" and the wonderfully-felt "On the Steps of the Palace" both are exceptional and the opening's equal), but the buzz from this opening scene is felt long enough to make this film feel insanely watchable during the first half.  The movie moves briskly, and thanks to a score that most people don't know by heart, you actually have to pay attention, so little moments like the sexual suggestiveness of the Wolf's (Depp) number about Little Red Riding Hood or Jack's ode to the giants in the sky are not lost on the audience even if the film has been a bit Disney-fied from the original.  The film doesn't quite hold as much weight in the second half, particularly since certain changes in the characters' personalities feel a bit sudden.  In particular the Witch randomly deciding to kill herself in order to help the rest of the cast and the Baker's Wife cheating on her husband and then falling to her death (both of these scenes, so out-of-place against the sunnier aspects of the first half, feel less like a "holy crap" and more like a "huh-they killed off the main character without a death scene?!?").  With both characters you half expect them to show up later, and someone in the editing room should probably re-evalaute their career in the face of this lack of plot prioritization.

Musicals live and die off the performers, however, and this is where the film gets almost everything right.  Musicals, if we're being honest, frequently have plot holes and issues with thin story, but they make up for it by being really compelling and wonderful to behold when the performances are arresting, and nearly everyone in the cast seems well-suited for their parts.  Chris Pine has been hailed by many as the standout, and he doesn't disappoint-never before has Pine, who is having a great career imitating a young William Shatner, been so scrumptiously watchable.  His duet with Billy Magnussen, who hopefully gets big things as a result of this and not just because his leather pants may be the most suggestive thing I've seen onscreen all year (and I saw Stranger by the Lake), is a comic high point and he takes an over-the-top character and rings every bit of humor from his lines.

Pine doesn't even medal, though, when it comes to who the best performances are, and as this is a Sondheim film, they're all from women.  Emily Blunt, the biggest surprise in the cast in terms of who can actually sing, is the best she's been onscreen since The Devil Wears Prada, first being dowdy and then transforming into something alluring that even a prince would flirt with.  Even better is Anna Kendrick as Cinderella, who hits notes I hadn't thought possible of her in past musical roles (again, "On the Steps of the Palace" is bliss), and finds the silliness of her character while keeping her deeply real.  And of course there's Meryl, who we all know can do comedy/hamminess, but also shows off previously unknown pipes with some of her bigger musical numbers (she's willing to get her inner Donna Murphy on).  Streep seems like the only one that will gain any sort of Oscar attention, but all three are doing work that would warrant such accolades.

We'll leave it about there, because, like a couple of other films that I've reviewed this week, I suspect we'll be revisiting this film later with the OVP (this is one of those "on-the-cusp" sort of contenders for the Best Picture nomination-could it be the ninth or tenth slot, and will that be enough?), but in the meantime-what are your thoughts?  Are you with me that the first half is gangbusters and the second half a bit failed?  Are you also in love with the ladies (and Billy's posterior), or do you have a different favorite?  And what musical do you think needs to be translated next onto the big screen?  Share in the comments!