Ready to Rent Ready to Rent (November 11, 2005)

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Warner Home Video VHS & DVD

1hr 55mins

Director: Tim Burton

Roald Dahl's sensibilities would border on sadistic if it wasn't for his very true notion that every child loves to be scared. Dahl, in turn, channeled this fancy into his works which expound on the tragic (James' parents being trampled by the circus in "James and the Giant Peach") and the bizarre (defending the earth against Vermicious Knids in "Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator"). But in Dahl's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," the author creates a wonderful mixture of both elements. Dahl clearly understood the wonder and horror of the unknown, especially when it comes to change. If you are closed off, as most of the adults in "Charlie" are, you're punished. If you are self-aware and humble, like Charlie and Grandpa Joe, you come out changed for the better.

Tim Burton's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" recognizes some of Dahl's darker outlooks, but leaves most of them out in favor of a cinematic streamlined story that makes the film surprisingly barren. The good news about "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" is that it does leave some of the Dahl's sentimental design about family intact, which counterbalances his sadistic streak. The poor Buckets still live in a wondrous ramshackle shack at the edge of town; dad still has his job at the toothpaste factory screwing on the tops (he brings the duds home for Charlie); the grandparents still share a giant bed in the middle of the living room; and Charlie (perfectly cast Freddie Highmore) is the model of child ignobility.

It is when the film enters the chocolate factory that there is none of Dahl's creepy hysteria. Johnny Depp's Willy Wonka is never threatening, just asexually goofy, like a mad scientist who is more cranky than conniving, which kills much of the tension that builds throughout the book (and earlier film). Gone also is the tension the Oompa Loompas bring, all played wonderfully by Deep Roy, whose main song and dances seem more to justify the film's budget than entertain.

In the end, Tim Burton's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" is more about design than content. The factory itself, conceived by Alex McDowell and photographed by the great Philippe Rousselot, is a haunted house whose color palate may be too dark and grim for effectiveness. There are some inspired moments, however, that bring Burton more than Dahl into the limelight: my favorite being the younger Willy Wonka's oversized braces that turn his bicuspids into a twisted smile, implemented by his dentist-father who could only be played by the one man who would conceive of such a torture -- Christopher Lee. Joe Ramirez, a Pleasanton local, moonlights full-time in the newspaper industry and part-time as a student, but his sanity has always been at the movies.

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