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Review Legacy Revision Candidate

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1999)

This week, I watched a whole bunch of Legend of Sleepy Hollow adaptations for an upcoming episode of The Goods, including this 1999 Hallmark made-for-TV flick. (As opposed to the other 1999 Sleepy Hollow movie.)

Strictly as a movie, this is a bit slow and talky in a Masterpiece Theater sort of way. But as someone who spent the week reading and rereading the Irving short story, I really enjoyed this movie’s dedication to capturing almost all of the details of the source while fleshing out the town and the character relationships in a believable way.

Of note, Brent Carver’s take on Ichabod Crane is much less sympathetic than basically any other adaptation I’ve seen. Crane’s selfish and manipulative elements are played up so that it’s almost a relief when Katrina shuts him down.

The headless horseman chasedown itself is, unsurprisingly, a bit rote… until we get the double twist of unmasking Brom before another, presumably supernatural, headless horseman appears. It’s an odd choice for an otherwise faithful adaptation.

(The one adaptation I wanted to catch that I haven’t yet is the 1980 made-for-TV version with Jeff Goldblum as Crane. It’s hard to imagine a more perfect casting.)

Is It Good?

Nearly Good (4/8)

Note: This review was originally published elsewhere. Please excuse brevity or inconsistencies in style. If you have questions or feedback, please leave a comment or contact me.


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