The thing I’m guessing most people seeing the film version of the Stephen Sondheim-James Lapine musical INTO THE WOODS won’t know going in is just how dark things get in the second half. Now granted, the movie is still very much a PG-rated affair, but the whole brilliant point of the source material is that even fairy tales have a second act, which takes place after the “…happily ever after.” Just because Cinderella and her Prince find each other doesn’t mean he’s mature enough to sustain a lasting, faithful relationship. Doesn’t real life suck?
The other clear point of the musical is that people die, and not just the bad guys. Sometimes, very good people die. So if you parents are into making sure your offspring learn the hard realities of life early (the earlier the better, I say), then perhaps INTO THE WOODS will serve your interests. There’s just as likely a chance that all of the mayhem will traumatize young children believing they’re walking into a mashup of their favorite fairy tales (Cinderella, Rapunzel, Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk), not unlike “Once Upon a Time,” which is traumatic in a different way.
To give credit where credit is due, director Rob Marshall (CHICAGO, NINE, and even a late-’90s TV version of ANNIE) does the best he can with material that was never meant to be portrayed literally. By complete coincidence, I saw a really great presentation of this musical on stage last year in Chicago, and it was especially clear to me that “the woods” isn’t just meant to represent trees and woodland creatures and other forrest props. It’s a place where life-changing events are made possible—both good and bad. So to see this story interpreted so literally syphons a bit of the magic and surrealism out of the story.
Although INTO THE WOODS is very much an ensemble piece, all of the stories are more or less joined through the story of a baker (James Corden) and his wife (Emily Blunt), who have a curse on them that prevents her from having a child. But the witch (Meryl Streep) who placed the curse is willing to remove it for a price of several trinkets that can be found at various locations connected by, you guessed it, the woods. And so the couple sets out on their scavenger hunt, meeting the likes of Cinderella (Anna Kendrick), Red Riding Hood (Lilla Crawford), and Jack (Daniel Huttlestone), which in turn allows us to enter versions those stories as well.
We also get a fantastic performance from Chris Pine as Cinderella’s handsome and vapid Prince Charming, Johnny Depp (who has tackled Sondheim previous in SWEENEY TODD) as Red’s predatory wolf, Lucy Punch and Tammy Blanchard as Cinderella’s step-sisters, Christine Baranski as her step-mother, Tracy Ullman as Jack’s mother, Mackenzie Mauzy as Rapunzel, and Billy Magnussen as her hair-climbing prince. The cast is actually quite a fine collection of actors and singers (even Streep, who did such a great job convincing us she was an average singer in MAMMA MIA!, sounds downright angelic; what an actor!). So any shortcoming in the film is not about a particular performance.
Nor is the problem with the songs—some of Sondheim’s most emotionally searing and pointed. Any concerns that the musical aspects would be toned down or cut out in this film version can be put to the side. The film is practically wall-to-wall singing, as it should be. The sadness, humor, urgency is all there, but there’s a certain, unnamable spark that is missing. Unlike seeing it on stage, the film version of INTO THE WOODS doesn’t allow our imagination to play a part in the telling. For example, there’s a female giant that stomps through the kingdom seeking revenge for the death of her husband, destroying everything and killing a few characters in the process. On stage, we only hear the giant’s voice, but in the movie (where she is played by Frances de la Tour), we see her (or parts of her) and that kills the fun of wondering just how tall and hideous she actually is. I miss my ugly lady giant.
It’s as if director Marshall was given the story and the songs of INTO THE WOODS and told “Go make this” without any guidance about what made the stage musical so intriguing. I’m not saying that he should have done it exactly like it was done on Broadway—that wouldn’t be particularly cinematic—but something is absolutely absent from this telling. Marshall proved with CHICAGO that a director can create a uniquely filmic version of stage production and make it endlessly fascinating and lovely, but INTO THE WOODS is missing that in spades. That being said, if you aren’t aware of what came before (meaning the stage production), I could see certain audiences actually enjoying this film, and even embracing its darker corners.
I’m guessing that most of you knew from the first trailer (and certainly before you read this review) whether or not you were going to check out INTO THE WOODS, which opens Christmas Day, but for those of you on the fence, you may get a kick out of seeing all of these appealing actors singing up a storm and wrapping their mouths around Sondheim’s twisty-wordy songs. It’s a closer call for me than I’m sensing it is for some, but in the end, it felt more like an exercise in getting it done than something Marshall and company were invested in.
