Into the Woods Gets Lost Too Easily

The biggest problem with the 2014 movie version of Stephen Sondheim’s “Into the Woods” is that it is a Disney film.

Why is that a problem? Because “Into the Woods” originally told the tale of several “Disney Princesses” (Cinderella, Rapunzel, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty) and their Princes woven into the story of a childless baker and his wife trying to break a curse. Most of the Princesses do not have a happily ever after coming to them in the original story;  in fact, one of them dies. Apparently, Disney executives didn’t want any of their Princesses to be killed, so the story was rewritten and sanitized to keep all of the Princesses alive. Additionally, the part of the narrator was also written out of the story detracting from the film’s overall flow.

Despite the Princesses living through the story, we are left with a much darker tale. By that, I mean the picture is purposely dimly lit with an overall bluish tint to it. The outstanding all-star cast of the film was unable to bring any joy to the slowly paced, two-hour experience that the audience I was with could share. By the time the two Princes sang the song, Agony, it was a word my audience was very familiar with. Several people actually walked out of the theater during that song.

To be fair, Meryl Streep channeled Bernadette Peters’ 1991 movie performance flawlessly and Chris Pine was funny when he sang the song, Agony. But there just wasn’t enough to make me (or my audience that day) believe this was a film worth recommending.

Below is the song, Agony from the 1991 film sung by the Cinderella and Rapunzel Princes. That said, the 1991 Bernadette Peters’ film is available for rental on Amazon for $2.99. It will not disappoint you the way the 2014 version did me.