Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

By Joanna Langfield

This movie is nuts. And I mean that in the best possible way.

Tim Burton’s reunion with the Deetzes (and friends) offers up some genuine laughs, maybe a few scares and a healthy dose of good natured fun. But what makes this one special is that it doesn’t rest on its laurels, everybody is game to do more. And more.

Here’s the story, as if we needed one. There’s been an off-screen tragedy and the Deetzes must return to the family home in Winter River. This time around, Catherine O’Hara and Winona Ryder are joined by Jenna Ortega and Justin Theroux, both of whom are a hoot. Of course, they’re not all who show up. There’s a fabulous Willem DaFoe, a deliciously nasty Monica Bellucci and, of course, the man himself, Beetlejuice, played once again to perfection by Michael Keaton. All of them plunge right in, assuring us they are having as grand a time as they hope we are.

But nobody, it feels, is having the absolute ball that Tim Burton is. In his happiest film in years, the distinctively visual director goes for broke, offering up grand, almost wordless jokes that take us to many levels. And there’s a crazy wrap up scene that will leave all of us not quite understanding why it was set to the song “MacArthur Park” yet knowing we will never hear that song again without remembering its place in this sunny re-visit.