Depp is odd, flamboyant in 'Pirates of the Caribbean'

By Jack Garner
Gannett News Service

Johnny Depp, left, and Orlando Bloom set sail as Capt. Jack Sparrow and Will Turner, respectively. Buena Vista Pictures 'Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl' PG-13, for violence and frightening elements 134 minutes

For years, the attraction generated the parks' longest lines. But it was always worth the wait.

We're not sure the same will be said about "Pirates of the Caribbean," the new adventure film inspired by the amusement park ride.

Johnny Depp stars as Capt. Jack Sparrow, a colorful rogue whose ship has been commandeered by another pirate, the nefarious Capt. Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush). Caught in the middle of the struggle between the two pirates are the inhabitants of Port Royale, a colorful Caribbean island village.

They include the governor (Jonathan Pryce), his beautiful daughter, Elizabeth (Keira Knightley) and her suitor, Will Turner (Orlando Bloom). We know from the prologue that they have early ties with Sparrow — and the past soon comes back to haunt them. "Haunt," by the way, can be taken literally. Capt. Barbossa and his pirate crew are all under a curse that has turned them into zombie-like skeletons. (Their bony plight becomes evident in the light of the moon). If they're ever to return to normal, they must retrieve every bit of a stolen treasure.

Of all the things to do to buccaneers in what's supposed to be a definitive pirate adventure, turning them into zombies wouldn't be my first choice. (Or my second. Or third).

For reasons too complicated to relate, Elizabeth now holds the last doubloon. So, soon enough, she's taken hostage, Barbossa and Sparrow cross swords, and Turner is trying to find a role for himself in all the turmoil.

Under Gore Verbinski's cluttered direction, the fight scenes are frequently close-cropped, muddled and murky. The various sailors jump each other's ships so often you'll lose track of which vessel you're aboard. Moreover, you may not care.

Depp's portrayal of Sparrow is undoubtedly the film's strangest component. With the daring that has always marked his career, Depp dives headlong into a bizarre portrait of a foppish, seemingly inebriated fellow who twirls and flops haphazardly through scenes on rubbery legs, only rallying at the last minute to win the moment. Depp has said he believes pirates were the rock stars of their day, so he's modeled Sparrow on Rolling Stone Keith Richards, one of the most colorfully dissolute and decaying figures to ever stride the stage.

It's a bizarre and strangely fascinating choice, the kind of thinking that makes Depp the Marlon Brando of his generation. Like Brando, Depp is always fascinating, even when he's way wrong. (I'd rather see an actor try something daring and fail than be timid, ineffectual and boring.)

So director Verbinski, writers Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio and producer Jerry Bruckheimer must walk the plank for their misguided adventures, but the flamboyant Depp is forgiven. He can continue to buckle his swash.