When I came home from the movie, I went for a piece of chocolate to get the real taste, instead of some saccharine confection like this film. Timothée Chalamet stars in the title role, but this version has strayed from Roald Dahl’s original work to be re-imagined as his origin story. He plays a struggling chocolatier who comes up against a trio of established businessmen trying to thwart his efforts. With this re-work, his character is portrayed as much more kindly and Chalamet is OK without bringing any of his unique ability or charisma to the role. The cast is populated with comic actors including Rowan Atkinson, Olivia Coleman, Keegan-Michael Key and Hugh Grant as the only Oompa Loompa, but despite their efforts, the comedy often doesn’t land. There are several new tuneful, cute musical numbers, but the original’s “Pure Imagination” still lands the best song. Ultimately, it’s not a bad movie, but it leans more in the action lane and lacks sufficient “imagination” to keep it from feeling flat. 
(2 / 5)