Music Box — Monday-Tuesday, Dec. 19-20,
Check venue website for showtimes
After the success of BATMAN, Tim Burton
was able pull out all the stops for this surreal take on teenage suburban
isolation, and got twice the budget that was originally planned. Often referred to as his masterpiece,
this contemporary fairy tale vacillates between story elements straight out of a Universal horror film and a stylized set of pastel
tract homes, emphasizing Burton's mixed feelings about the American middle class lifestyle. Based on drawings Burton made while growing up
in Burbank, where he struggled to keep friends and often retreated into
his painting and stop-motion animation, Johnny Depp's portrayal of the meek and scarred Edward
is amongst his finest performances. Notable for his character's economy
of dialogue and cautious demeanor, the meek and scarred Edward is the incomplete construction of a
deceased inventor, played by Vincent Price. Emotionally stunted from his "father's" death but bursting with creativity, our hero stands in for every
adolescent who would rather be left alone to make art than conform in
order to make friends. Dianne West is wonderful as the Avon Lady who
finds Edward in the abandoned mansion on a hill, and takes him home
to join the cookie cutter enclave below. Frightened by his outward appearance
but seeing the gentle prince underneath, her motherly efforts to integrate
him into the conservative town are doomed from the start. But, there
is magic in both of their hearts, and eye-candy galore for us. (1990,
105 min, 35mm) JH - Cine-File.info
