Oh yeah, I just saw this tonight -- hence the new sig.

Look, I saw it because I was a total theatre kid. And while it had a larger scope than real high school productions, the spirit was there. I wouldn't quite say it was as good as "Waiting For Guffman", but I still loved it. It was funny and the play itself was extremely entertaining. I actually found the montage of the end of the play to be as touching as Coogan's character intended. Speaking of which, Coogan had to be one of the most sympathetic characters I've seen in a film in a long while. He just gets shit on left and right. Normally I hate that, but his energy is something to be admired. Lots of likable people, even if the film continues the long cliches of modern indie films like Napoleon Dynamite, Little Miss Sunshine, and Juno. It fits right into that genre, but I'd say it's a bit higher than the others -- although not quite as high as Little Miss Sunshine.

Okay, let's talk Hamlet 2 the play. Every drama f** knows Hamlet. Hell, most cinema nerds have seen at least three different movie versions of it. I would actually admire someone if they made a sequel to it. Now, people have made sequels to Shakespeare plays before, most removing their soul by making them cynical and in the present day. I'm not a fan of those plays. I could dig this "Hamlet 2" right from the get go because Jesus shows up in a time machine. Rock me, sexy Jesus! But while the film says the play is about forgiving bad fathers like Richard Dreyfuss, the clear message of the play is to inspire hope. As Dana, the director, shouts in one scene why does Hamlet have to be such a downer!? And his quest to remove the tragedy doesn't seem all that misguided to me. There's hope.

To me, the film "Hamlet 2" doesn't try to be too smart like countless other indie films. It is playing at a lower level, but I find that appealing. Almost as though it figures random people are going to sneak into the film to talk and fuck, it kind of tries to reach out to them too... Or maybe I'm imagining it based on the audience in my theater.

In any case, I enjoyed the movie as a high school theatre vet and as "an artist". And as an Elizabeth Shue fan.

Will you? Maybe, maybe not. I'd really only recommend it for theatre fans.

Syd Lexia wrote:

I'm gonna wait for the unrated DVD. I'm not gonna pay to see a PG-13 comedy.

Wait, Hamlet 2 is a full blown R. What the fuck are you talking about, Syd?