Directed by John Schlesinger, the prolific veteran filmmaker behind Midnight Cowboy, Marathon Man, and Cold Comfort Farm—as well as the despicable Sally Field revenge thriller Eye For An Eye—The Tale Of Sweeney Todd once again tells the story of turn-of-the-century barber and mass murderer Sweeney Todd, a man whose recipe for sausage features an ingredient just a bit more transgressive than the usual pig's organs and tripe. Ben Kingsley plays Todd this time around, with former Absolutely Fabulous star Joanna Lumley cast as his lover and partner in both crime and cooking. Campbell Scott rounds out the cast as an American abroad who senses that something is just a little bit off about the outwardly jovial Kingsley and his culinary endeavors. All three leads acquit themselves nicely here, with Scott in particular doing nicely textured work in a fairly thankless role. But it says something about how strangely abridged and unsatisfying Sweeney Todd is that nobody in it is ever really allotted enough screen time. Kingsley clearly seems to relish playing an over-the-top psycho, but with the exception of a few brief monologues, Schlesinger never really finds anything for him to do other than stand around looking menacing. Alternately a not-very-funny black comedy, a stillborn exercise in the macabre, a stilted bit of social commentary, and an unsatisfying love story (Scott's character falls in love with Kingsley's ward, played without distinction by Selina Boyack), The Tale Of Sweeney Todd lacks the depth and focus to be anything but a watchable and well-acted but disposable and underwhelming time-waster.