Sharon Movie: Sleepy Hollow (1999)

Sleepy Hollow (1999)

Director: Tim Burton
Writer: Washington Irving (story) and Kevin Yagher (screen story)
Genre: Fantasy/Mystery/Horror/Thriller

Story

Heads will roll! That was the tag line and certainly it was true. There were plenty of decapitations in this retelling of a classic story about the headless horseman of Sleepy Hollow. We all know the story about Ichabod Crane (Johnny Depp) who is sent to investigate the strange murders occurring in Sleepy Hollow and the Hessian Horseman (Christopher Walken) committing the murders. When Crane gets to the village he is immediately drawn into the action with murders happening on a daily basis. As Crane comes closer and closer to discovering the truth the job becomes more and more dangerous for him and the townspeople.


Everything Else

The directing by Tim Burton was certainly not his best work and after watching Sweeney Todd, Sleepy Hollow actually left a little to be desired. Even so, Burton provides another unique version of a classic story and keeps you entertained throughout. The character interactions usually seemed natural, but at times there were things that seemed odd; namely the reactions to murders and the headless horseman. The problem was most often the fact that there was not enough emotion, but this allowed Burton to keep the idea of decapitation lighthearted and even funny at times. With more emotion from the characters it could have been a much darker film which would not have appealed to as wide an audience.


The dark and foggy atmosphere created for the film keeps the mood mysterious and spooky, but often seems a bit over the top. The special effects did the job nicely, but there weren’t any standout, great effects. The story flows well even with the twists and turns as the viewers are slowly shown the truth about the murders in Sleepy Hollow and who the headless horseman is or rather why he is.

The acting on all parts was good with Depp (would it be a Burton film without him) and Christina Ricci as the stars. Christopher Walken does his crazy man performance as Hessian Horseman and the teeth were wild for sure. The supporting roles were not lacking good acting, but the acting did not stand out in Sleepy Hollow much because of its way of muffling the emotion involved. Even when a kid’s father is killed he seems to care very little about it. Overall, Sleepy Hollow is a balanced, well made film about the headless horseman.


The Real Deal

The first viewing of Sleepy Hollow a few years back was a lot of fun. Sharon was there and she of course liked it (or it would not have been a Sharon Movie) even though that may come as a surprise. This may be one of those movies that if seen in the wrong mood could be somewhat disturbing (heads rolling and all), but it was simply hilarious when viewing it in the right mood. This is the real reason it was a Sharon Movie for sure. If she had not seen the humor in it then there would not have been anything “Sharon” about it. It is also interesting that an R rated film is a Sharon Movie as this is often the first deterrent. The blood and gore along with language and decapitation was enough to give this one the R rating, but not enough to keep me from laughing at it. I recommend it to anyone who can find the humor in it and are looking for an entertaining and lighthearted movie.


Sharon’s Take

Sleepy Hollow is a movie that people might not expect to be a Sharon Movie. I really liked this film because it was suspenseful, and yet humorous at the same time.

The Short Version

Raw Score: 785,938
Sharon Movie? Yes

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The Boondock Saints

This review of The Boondock Saints was requested by Pete.

The Boondock Saints (1999)

Director: Troy Duffy
Writer: Troy Duffy
Genre: Action/Drama/Crime/Thriller

It has been a few months since I saw The Boondock Saints, but I still remember it pretty well cause it was so good.

Story

Two brothers in Boston kill two mafia members while trying to defend themselves and feel it was a calling from God. There calling is to rid the world of the mafia by exterminating them (killing them all off). As the brothers set out on there quest to kill all mafia members, a detective (Willem Defoe) tries to track them down. As he gets closer and closer to solving the case he realizes he wants them to be doing what they are doing because he feels it is the right thing to do.

Everything Else

It is not very often I really have a lot of fun watching a movie, but with The Boondock Saints that is exactly what happened. I love movies involving the Mafia and crazy shootouts, but to add the style Troy Duffy did to The Boondock Saints just made it that much better. The directing was tremendous with the way parts of the story were zoomed through and then revisited later. There is a lot of Guy Richie feel to this movie in a way (I mean that as a great compliment to Troy Duffy).

The acting was good on all fronts. Willem Defoe does an excellent job and ends up being a little more quirky than his usual performance. The two brothers Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus were obviously the two main characters and provided a strong base for the rest of the cast to work from. The two looked a lot like they could be brothers I guess, but the way they acted together is what really sold me on their characters.


The script and story written by Troy Duffy truly made this a memorable movie. I loved the idea of the two brothers feeling they had a calling from God to carry out this mission as it provides excitement and controversy which are both key to making a story that will stick out in people’s heads for a long time. I haven’t forgotten this movie because of this and wish Troy Duffy would get out there and make another flick. As far as imdb is concerned, it would appear he is not going to make another one. Wikipedia proved to be more useful in telling the story. Apparently Duffy had marketed the script to and actually got a 15 million dollar budget originally and then it got dropped and he had to push forward to get another deal for less than half the budget. It ended up not getting in many theaters and not playing for long (partially because of the Columbine shootings and the MPAA knocking it s a lot), but it made 6 million on the DVD sales which Duffy did not see a penny of because of the contract he had signed. This is a tragedy in my opinion, but it would seem he is working on a sequel and will have to try and come back to Hollywood for a second chance. I can only hope he makes it even though I am not a fan of sequels.

The Real Deal

I liked this movie a lot and finding out the filmmaker Troy Duffy seems to have gone through such torment to get this out there only to get basically nothing in return makes this a sad story. I am pulling for Duffy on this one as he seems to have a true talent for filmmaking and I would definitely like to see another movie like The Boondock Saints. With all of the language, violence, and sex you should take the R Rating seriously on this one; in fact one of the trivia notes on this movie describes the “f” word being used 246 times (yowza!). This movie is one you should pick up if you have not seen it.

The Short Version

Raw Score: 824,392
Sharon Movie? No

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