INTO THE WOODS  3.5***

         The Stephen Sondheim-James Lapine 1987 Broadway musical “Into the Woods” has been transferred to the screen by director Rob Marshall with most of its complexities and light-dark tones intact.    Although its first hour is more stunning than its second, this is a movie musical that, for a change, never slumps into a false “Hollywood” wholesomeness. It’s one of the rare musicals that both children (not the young kids…but 12 and over) and adults can enjoy, though for somewhat different reasons. Children will delight in the vast potpourri of classic fairy tales and adults will appreciate the wisdom and moralities in the retellings.

For those not familiar with this  musical, Into the Woods tells the intertwined tales of Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Little Red Riding Hood, and Rapunzel, connected by a story of a childless baker and his wife, and the evil witch who cursed them. The  movie does a very good job of combining the four classic fairy tales, along with the new material into one plot line that is not only coherent but quite clever as well, with each story building on the others and their characters crossing paths in the most amusing ways. And just when you think it's over ( i.e. a “happy ending”) things get serious and we see what happens after the “happily ever after”. It has just the right touch of humor, spectacle and special effects along with a  solid cast, excellent production values, and a clever screenplay which makes this film achieve what it was meant to be: a twisted reworking of some pretty dark material that has been sanitized way too much in most adaptations.

The cast is large and for the most part up to the task. James Corden and Emily Blunt are wonderful as the village baker and his wife, who are childless due to the curse placed upon them (long story) by the blue-haired Wicked Witch, played and sung with ravishing zest by Meryl Streep, looking like she’s having the time of her life. Anna Kendrick  is Cinderella, who, in this version of the tale, purposely leaves behind her glass slipper for the Prince (Chris Pine) to find. The Prince is a pompous twit whose best line comes when he confesses, “I was raised to be charming, not sincere. “Among the large cast is also Johnny Depp’s brief appearance as the Wolf, Tracey Ullman as the overbearing mother of Jack (Daniel Huttlestone), and Lilla Crawford as a precocious Red Riding Hood.

Being a musical, this film is not for everyone. And Sondheim is not for everyone. Many of his songs are more about the words than the music and, thus, are not as hummable or memorable as what you would find in "Phantom of the Opera".

Clark