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Hamlet 2

Starring: Steve Coogan, Catherine Keener

Directed by: Andrew Fleming

RS: 3of 4 Stars Average User Rating: 3of 4 Stars

2008 Comedy

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Don't expect a night with The Bard. This cuckoo farce asks: Can an L.A. actor stuck doing ads for herpes cures find happiness by moving to Tucson and teaching drama to high schoolers? Probably not. But you'll be wearing a happy face for two hours watching the brilliant Brit comic Steve Coogan play him. Him being Dana Marschz (pronounced Mars-chhh-zzz by those who dare), a sterile recovering alcoholic who gets slagged regularly by a snotty kid critic for staging movies (Dead Poets Society, Erin Brockovich) as plays. "He fisted us," cries Dana. Pumped by the addition of Latin students to his class of whitey Christians and closeted gays, Dana rouses himself — not with his wife (the dry, dazzling Catherine Keener), who's boinking their friend (David Arquette), but by creating an original musical. It's a sequel to Hamlet that somehow involves a time machine and Hamlet (Joseph Julian Soria) raising his voice in song to implore Christ (Coogan) to "Rock Me, Sexy Jesus." Tucson's civic leaders try to close the show. Enter ACLU lawyer Cricket Feldstein (Amy Poehler has you laughing at hello), and unexpected support from Leaving Las Vegas star Elisabeth Shue, playing herself as a Hollywood expat who prefers working in a sperm clinic. Director Andrew Fleming (Dick) keeps the pace snappy. And the script he wrote with Pam Brady (South Park) recovers handily every time it hits a speed bump. It's Coogan's breakthrough star performance that holds it all together. He's sensational.

PETER TRAVERS

(Posted: Aug 21, 2008)

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Hamlet 2

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moviegoer4894 writes:

1of 4 Stars


The trailer for this movie portrayed something funny, something witty, and all I received when I went to this movie was something stupid, and not even the funny stupid that has become more and more acceptable, just plain stupid. It drug on and on to the point where you hope that one of the “homies” would just freak out and kill the poor worthless soul for a drama teacher. The only part of the movie that was worth watching was the actual production of Hamlet 2. Everything leading up to the play was a waste of my time, and my money. Regrettably, we sat through the entire movie, thinking, or hoping, that it would get better. It did not.

Sep 9, 2008 23:20:16

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