It’s a film about kids, for kids

Fox, Julia Winter, Shelley Conn, Todd Boyce
Director: Tim Burton
Cinema: Rainbow town
Running time: 105 minutes
Type of film: Juvenile fantasy
Age restriction: All ages
When Johnny Depp made this film nine years ago, it was written by all concerned that, by doing so, he had put into jeopardy a heretofore rising cinematic career. With the advertising for the film failing to note that it is a film for and about children similarly the situation now in Harare it gave rise to the movement (not entirely in jest) that there are films which should carry the caution: only for persons under 12 years of age.
Previously, Depp’s career had leapt from success to success, with such films as “Donnie Brasco”, “Dead Man”, “The Astronauts’s Wife”, and “Edward Scissorhands”.
Johnny Depp was born in the southern American State of Kentucky in 1963. His role in the film “Charlie” and the “Chocolate Factory” shows him to be heavily critical and unfriendly to children.
When this realisation struck all concerned an effort was made to withdraw the film. But a serious blow had been struck against Johnny Depp, previously tooted as a friend to children.
Here, for its current running in Harare, at Rainbow, it suffered from the initial mistake in giving its title: “Sweeney Toddy and the Chocolate Factory”.
The plot and the characters who make up the cast give the film the basic ingredients for a winner, especially among small children.
Set in the present, in an unnamed city, one which is undergoing extreme poverty. The focus is on Charlie (Freddie Highmore), who is living in the dregs of poverty with his parents and his two sets of grandparents. Notable, and surprising, among this motley crew, is his mother, played by and looking very poorly Helena Bonham Carter. It is a small and insignificant role and causes me to wonder why she should have sought it. It certainly does her no honours.
Children from all over are seeking an opportunity to tour the highly touted Chocolate Factory. Willie Wonka (Depp) holds a contest, announcing that the five children who find a Golden Ticket in the chocolate bars which he sells worldwide, will be brought from however far away with a parent and given a tour of the factory. The film then resolves itself into paring down the five to one — the winner.