Film: Into the Woods

GENRE: Musical

RATING: PG for thematic materials
RUNTIME: 2 hours and 5 minutes

STARRING: Meryl Streep (August: Osage County; The Giver, Doubt)

Emily Blunt (Devil Wears Prada), Anna Kendrick (Pitch Perfect)

DIRECTOR: Rob Marshall (Chicago; Nine; Memoirs of a Geisha)

WRITER: James Lapine (Into the Woods: The Musical)

PLOT: A bunch of fairy tales are mashed together as a baker and his wife try to reverse a curse put on them by a witch

FIVE OBSERVATIONS:

1 The first half of the film was really well done. Unfortunately, the second half was abysmal. Such an unnecessary storyline. If I was watching this as a play, I would leave at intermission knowing I already saw the best part.

2 Who would have thought that Chris Pine (Star Trek) would be the musical all-star with his role as Cinderella’s sleazy prince. His song “Agony” was definitely the highlight of the film.

3 It’s weird knowing that James Corden (History Boys) who is great as the baker is taking over for Craig Ferguson as the host of the Late, Late Show.

4 There are a bunch of unresolved storylines that happen in this film. Kind of disappointing. What happened to some of these people?

5 Those step-sisters sure get what’s coming to them, and then some. For some reason, the wicked stepmom escaped unscathed. Odd.

RECOMMENDATION: Just wait to rent it
UPCOMING REVIEWS: Best of 2014; 2015 Previews