A week before the last midnight.

Sorry to say that 2014, which wasn't a great year to begin with, ended with a major disappointment: Into the Woods. Having seen the superb American Playhouse tv version so many times, I assumed that a multi-million dollar Disney film had to be even better. Wrong. While there is nothing shameful about the new movie, it isn't the fantastic film it promised to be. Since critics will give you all kinds of information, I'll list my personal gripes. When Red Riding Hood confronts the wolf who is dressed as the grandmother he has just eaten, she says, "What big ears you have." though one can't see his ears. Hmm.  While most critics seem to regard "Agony" as a highlight, I think it was badly done. It is a song best sung with both princes standing together, not dashing about a waterfall rending their clothes and making their antics secondary to the hilarious lyrics. (Also, I personally missed the deleted "Agony" reprise in which the princes were now enamored of Snow White and Sleeping Beauty.) Meryl Streep was, as usual, wonderful but she did not, in any way, eclipse Bernadette Peters who was much funnier and scarier. Streep did an amazing rendition of "The Last Midnight", my least favorite song. Rob Marshall's decision to freeze-frame Cinderella's prince while she sings about. "being stuck on the steps of the palace." was confusing and again, interfered with the brilliant lyrics. While all the actors were letter-perfect in their roles, I didn't feel any of them lived up to the glowing press reports sprinkled throughout the media months before the film's release. Sadly Annette Crosby, as Red Riding Hood's grandmother, has a thankless role which could have been filled by anyone. I, frankly, think the film would have been better served by more songs and less plot. Especially annoying was postponing "Children Will Listen" to the very end, when it is so much the theme of the film. I hope that moviegoers, not being the insane Sondheim fan I am, will look kindly on this film and make it a success. But I suspect it is going to be inaccessible to those not familiar  with the superb music and lyrics. So, whether you loved this film or were disappointed, you're not alone. No one is alone.