The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Not as good as the Disney animated version, but much superior to both the Jeff Goldblum and Johnny Depp versions. What makes any live action adaptation of Washington Irving's classic is the choice of Ichabod Crane (The Disney version is judged based on it's narrator, Bing Crosby, who's self-mocking "hip" style, carries the story). Certainly Brent Carver dominates this role from the start when we see him perched upon a hill looking like a scarecrow, it is a startling shot by the director. In the early TV film version, Jeff Goldblum certainly looked the part, but he was too dull. In Tim Burton's spoofy version Johnny Depp (a favorite of mine, especially in Tim Burton films) is just poorly cast (as was Wednesday Adams as Katrina, give me a break puleeeze!). This version is the closest to capturing the flavor of the classic short story. If you want to see Disney's Sleepy Hollow or Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow then the choice is obvious, however, if you want to see Washington Irving's Sleepy Hollow check out this obscure cable channel version.

I'll warn you that, in some cases, when motion pictures tread into the territory of faithful adaptations, the modern day audience will find the result slow, but in this case, not altogether ponderous. In order to enjoy this film fully, I would recommend that you go back to the original novel, and read it's wonderfully descriptive characters and carefully crafted New England world of spooky surroundings. Washington Irving's masterful work has been carefully reproduced here, but in doing so, the producers have painted a very rich and colorful world that lacks that ever so intangible spark that gives a motion picture good pacing and story appeal. I'll give it an eight simply because they made such an energetic effort to remain true to Irving's vision. Despite its strictly bookish feel, this film is worth an evening with the kids curled around Mom, Dad, the TV, and an explanation of why this version doesn't bleed all over the couch.

Another poster here said that he'd rather watch Tim Burton's version, but that just goes to show that most movie-goers aren't interested in a true adaptation of a classic novel. This version, unlike Burton's version, is very true to the story. Meaning, instead of a strange plot involving witches, it revolves around Ichabod Crane and his awkward, generally unlikeable persona. It was pretty funny at certain times. Brent Carver stole the movie acting wise, while the guy who played Brom was pretty dull and lifeless throughout. The only real problem I had with the movie was the general lack of a empathetic character. Crane is, like I've said, awkward, but he's also pompous and his motivations are never clear. Brom is your typical no-brains jock stereotype. Katrina is even more confusing. Mostly watch this movie for the comedic value, because there's no real horror here. If you're into the butchering of a literary classic, though, please, by all means, rent Tim Burton's version.

This version wasn't any too good. There was just nothing special about it. And what I couldn't stnad was that Ichobad was not likeable. Although Brent Carver did a good job with the acting, the character was not that of a loveable teacher, but of a snobby educated man, who looks down on people who aren't. The problem I think that a lot of people run into when they are making this film is that they are trying to expand a short story into a full length movie. I still prefer the Disney version the best. Tim Burton's version comes second.

Somehow I've become a dude who has watched four or five different adaptations of Sleepy Hollow, now. A lot of them feel like they exist in the shadow of the stellar Disney short, but this one ends up something special.

It's much more a period piece. Harvard educated Ichabod Crane arrives at the podunk farm town of Sleepy Hollow. We're in the shadow of The Revolutionary War, and many of the older folk associate Ichabod's demeanor with that of the enemy. But they need a teacher and he's the only applicant. Even though the pay isn't to Ichabod's liking, he soon finds his education affords him a strange power over some folk in Sleepy Hollow, and thus everybody is forced to settle with what they're given, for better and worse.

I appreciate how genuinely three-dimensional these characters feel. Again, a lot of adaptations kind of exist in the simplicity of the Disney version, but here you really get the sense that everything is part of a larger tapestry. Katrina Van Tassel is planning for the future, which for Brom Bones means settling down and starting a family -- but Katrina wants to travel, something Ichabod taps into with his stories of far off lands he's read about in books. Everybody's got something going on.

Shoutouts to this movie also making the story of the Headless Horseman feel like a proper ghost story. A lot of them either go way too overboard with making the Horseman feel like this larger than life presence that dominates the whole story, or they just assume he's naturally scary on his own and don't do anything interesting with him. Here, the tale of the horseman is given just enough dues to make it creepy without casting its shadow over the whole movie. You know it's coming, you know this story, but our characters are given a lot of breathing room around the headless horseman to let it simmer in the background.

And, just, good performances, too. A lot of these folks aren't Academy Award winning actors or anything but they fill their roles very well. Rachelle Lefevre gives a great sassy bite to Katrina, Paul Lemelin's Brom Bones is a warm-hearted rogue. Brent Carver as Ichabod Crane channels that same kind of silly infatuation with "class" that you'd get out of Frasier and Niles Crane. He's a dork, but in a certain world, he is king of the dorks.

Really, though, this is a made-for-TV movie, and eventually that catches up with it in the end. Ichabod's ride home after Katrina's harvest party wants to be spooky, but its full of limp action and cheap effects.

It gets so close, but the flat ending really shakes how enjoyable the lead up is.