It's irrelevant; it's satirical; it's rather dumb. But the charm of Hamlet 2 is that it doesn't really take itself too seriously. And neither should you.
Dana Marschz (Steve Coogan) is a failed actor who, according to the old adage "those can't do, teach," becomes a high school drama teacher in Tucson, Arizona. He's not very good at that either. He's broke and his wife, Brie (Catherine Keener), despises their lives in Tucson. When the school board tries to shut down the drama department, Dana decides the only way he can save it is by putting on the greatest show on Earth.
But not only is Dana a bad actor, he can't write either. Eventually, he comes up with a preposterous musical called Hamlet 2, in which Hamlet uses a time machine to return to his past trying to save everyone and change everything. In the process, Hamlet meets an eclectic group of historical figures including Jesus. The play is so bad that even his students have a hard time believing they can pull it off, but Dana marches on. When the school board decides to shut down the play for its obscenity, Dana fights it with the help of an ACLU lawyer Cricket (Amy Poehler). Together, they're determined to put on one of the most offensive plays in history.
Steve Coogan (Hot Fuzz) is one of UK's most prolific comedian-actors. As the perpetual loser, Coogan is at once repulsively stupid and affectingly charming. His character truly is clueless, but at the same time he seems to have real heart and believe in what he does. Coogan is apt in portraying such a doofus. Sometimes his performance is too over the top even for such a comedy, but he really does carry the film well.
Catherine Keener (Into the Wild) actually has a small part as Dana's wife Brie. She's self-absorbed, distracted, irritated, and disapproving. She does a fine job but her role is too small to make any real impact. David Arquette (The Tripper) also has a small part playing their boarder, Gary. His character is just a dumb ass, and Arquette is very good at playing a dumb ass. Amy Poehler (Baby Mama) stands out as the zany, overzealous ACLU lawyer and I wish she had more to do -- her role is hilarious. Elisabeth Shue (Hide and Seek) plays herself as a burned out actress-turn-nurse. Her small role is amusingly self-referential and self-deprecating.
The young cast, who play the students, are not bad either. Skylar Astin, in his debut film role, is really funny and plays his role as the "sexually confused" drama queen excellently. Phoebe Strole (Descent) is also very good as the naive actress wannabe who plays the stage version of Erin Brockovich as if she was a hooker. Joseph Julian Soria (Fast & Furious) is dutiful as the Latino misfit who finds his true calling as an actor. And Melonie Diaz (Be Kind, Rewind) is smart and funny as the bitchy drama student, Ivonne.
Written by Pam Brady of South Park fame and director-writer Andrew Fleming (Nancy Drew), the script is inconsistent. At times, it's a stroke of genius, mocking everything from Hollywood to high school musicals. At times, the story drags and the jokes aren't funny at all. The middle part of the film lacks focus, and the plot goes all over the place. They spend way too much time concerning us with Dana's domestic life (but still, in the process, not able to give Keener and Arquette more to do). Some of the dialogue is really cheesy, and some plot element is ridiculously cliched.
But once the film comes to the final act, the pace picks up and the plot turns golden. The satirical nature of the final reels is spot on and hilarious. There's also great energy near the end and, surprisingly, the "horrible" musical they put on is better than a lot of actual musicals I've seen on Broadway lately. The tunes are catchy and the production stupendous. Perhaps the director goes overboard with that (as if a high school production really can pull of an audio-visual feast like that), but in the spirit of the film, it's too delicious to even question the authenticity. This is, after all, a comedy. Fleming's done a great job pulling the film together toward the end.
Despite its obvious flaws and the soggy pace in the middle, Hamlet 2 is funny, entertaining, and culturally relevant even if the comedy itself is irrelevant. The performances are solid all around and the ending, like the climactic scenes in Hairspray, is going to put a smile on your face in a rather Hamlet-like depraved way.Stars: Steve Coogan, Catherine Keener, Joseph Julian Soria, Skylar Astin, Phoebe Strole, Melonie Diaz, David Arquette, Elisabeth Shue, Amy Poehler
Director: Andrew Fleming
Writer: Pam Brady, Andrew Fleming
Distributor: Focus
MPAA Rating: R for language, sexual references, brief nudity and drug content
Running Time: 92 Minutes
Ratings:
Script – 6
Performance – 8
Direction – 7
Cinematography – 7
Music/Sound– 8
Editing – 7
Production – 7
Total – 7.4 out of 10
Steven Spurrier (Alan Rickman) is a British wine connoisseur in Paris. He'd like for his business to pick up and get some respectability, and he's convinced that he needs a promotion. Learning that the Californian viniculture is in its infancy, he decides to hold an "international" wine tasting competition, pitting the French against the Americans. He sets out to Napa valley and lands himself at the Chateau Montelena, owned and operated by Jim Barrett (Bill Pullman) and his son, Bo (Chris Pine).
Jim is a very serious and "pigheaded" man, as his son calls him. Meanwhile, Bo is a stoner, and has no ambitions in life except to eat, sleep, be happy, and sleep with as many pretty girls as he can. Jim gives Bo an ultimatum: either go back to school, get a degree and a job, or get out at the end of the year. Bo begins to question if he's a loser, especially after the girl he really likes, intern Sam (Rachael Taylor), falls for his best friend and coworker Gustavo (Freddy Rodriguez). He wants to prove to his father that he is not completely useless.
Spurrier becomes the local celebrity when the wineries discover who he is and what he's doing in California. Eventually, he is ready to pick his wines for the competition, and he likes Jim's 1973 Chardonnay. However, Jim believes Spurrier -- a "French wine snob" -- is only there to ridicule and humiliate him and the Americans. On top if it, he doesn't believe his Chardonnay, which turns out brown instead of golden in color, is ready and is heartbroken when he finds out Gustavo is making his own wine. When Bo gives the Chardonnay to Spurrier to take back to Paris, Bill believes he's totally ruined, and he'll be laughed at by everyone, and his dream as a winemaker is dashed.
Alan Rickman (
Chris Pine (
Based on a true story and written by Jodie Savin (
Still, director Randall Miller (
Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Christina (Scarlett Johansson) are two best friends who are spending a few summer months in Spain at the beautiful home of Vicky's friend Judy (Patricia Clarkson). Vicky's there to study art and prepare for her thesis, and Christina is there to have an experience. While having a lot in common, Vicky and Christina have one sharp difference: their views on love and relationships. Vicky knows exactly what she wants and how she wants to live out her life: she and fiance Doug (Chris Messina) are getting married in the Fall; meanwhile, Christina doesn't believe in the conventional and she's desperate to find out what she really wants.
Soon enough, they meet their challenge in a dashing, Bohemian artist Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem), whose no-nonsense approach to life is both alluring and threatening to Vicky and Christina. Juan Antonio makes no apologies for desiring both women (at the same time). Vicky finds that repulsive, while Christina is seriously considering the offer. Eventually, however, despite her resistance, Juan's sensitive side wins Vicky over. She's extremely confused, and when Doug proposes that they get married in Barcelona, Vicky reluctantly agrees while trying to hide her feelings and confusion. At the same time, Christina carries on a torrid love affair with Juan Antonio, to the dismay of his neurotic ex-wife, Maria Elena (Penelope Cruz).
Rebecca Hall (
Javier Bardem (
Written and directed by Woody Allen (
In addition, the circumstances seem forced and unconvincing. There are times when I feel that Allen is trying too hard to make his characters do what he wants, so the narrator has something to talk about: how silly these people are. The characters appear to be too wishy washy for my taste. One minute they're in love and the next they're saying, "This is not what I want." Also, Allen seems to be saying that artists are colorful, spontaneous, exciting people while the non-artist are boring, common, and unwanted. Surely Allen has a biased view on the subject and he may be trying to push that on us. I wouldn't have minded if he did have an agenda with this "romantic comedy" if only he didn't bore me so much with the inane situations and narration. At times, while watching these characters meander through their lives and relationships, I feel like I'm watching paint dry.
And I was expecting the film to entice me to take a trip to Spain. While the locations are beautiful, they don't feel sexy, and Spain is supposed to one of the sexiest places on Earth. That's just odd -- how can Spain not feel sexy in a film about love and sex? All we see is how these people roam around town, sipping purple wine, and feeling sorry for themselves. It's such a far cry from Allen's brilliant and excitingly sexy thriller, 
Charles Ryder (Matthew Goode), a middle-class first-year student at Oxford, has a chance encounter with Sebastian Flyte (Ben Wishaw), the younger son of an aristocratic family. They become fast friends, and when Sebastian takes Charles to his stately family home, Brideshead Castle, Charles is entranced by the wealth and opulent lifestyle of the Flytes.
Charles and Sebastian form an extremely close friendship, often over food, wine, and childish horseplay. Eventually, Charles meets Sebastian's beautiful sister, Julia (Hayley Atwell) and mother, Lady Marchmain (Emma Thompson), whom Sebastian has tried to avoid. A devout Catholic, Lady Marchmain tries to control her children through guilt and manipulation. Sebastian is a self-proclaimed sinner, and he finds greater solace in alcohol than religion, to his mother's dismay. Meanwhile, Charles is smitten with Julia. During a vacation at the Venetian home of their father, Lord Marchmain (Michael Gambon), Sebastian witnesses a passionate kiss between Charles and Julia. Soon, the friendship between Sebastian and Charles deteriorates; and when Julia is engaged to a Catholic named Rex Mottram, Charles is further estranged from the Flytes.
Years go by before Charles is once again entangled with the Flytes. Eventually, he forms a relationship with Julia, who is now married to Rex. Charles plans to divorce his own wife and marry Julia. But circumstances arise and Julia doesn't want to live in sin anymore. Thus she chooses God instead of Charles. During WWII, Charles is now an army officer stationed at Brideshead. Finally he realizes the operation of the divine grace, even if he doesn't fully understand it.
Matthew Goode (
Ben Whishaw (
The veterans are what anchor the film. Emma Thompson (
Not having read the novel, I have no idea how closely the screenplay, written by Andrew Davies (
Julian Jarrold's (
Bud (Kevin Costner) is an egg factory worker whose main goal in life is to get through the day without getting fired or too drunk. He's a 40-something single father, but in reality he's more like an overgrown 14-year-old. Meanwhile, his ten-year-old daughter, Molly (Madeline Carroll), is really the master of the house. She cooks, cleans, washes, pays the bills, and even drives herself home when her father was too drunk. What Molly wants the most is for Bud to care about what's going on in the world. To her, civil duties are very important, especially on election day. She urges her father to come to the polling place to vote.
When Bud doesn't show up, Molly gets angry and she decides to vote for Bud instead. But a chain of events render her (or Bud's) vote invalid. She thinks it's the end of the story, until the result of the election comes down to one single state, one single county, and finally one single vote: Bud's. Suddenly, Bud becomes the most important person in all of America -- the President Andrew Boone (Kelsey Grammer) wants him, the Democratic challenger Donald Greenleaf (Dennis Hopper) wants him, and everyone wants him. Meanwhile, Bud gets the hang of the idea of being a celebrity (even only for ten days until he recasts his vote), and thinks everything is a joke. Unbeknownst to him and to Molly's dismay, he's slowly turning the political process upside down with a circus around it. Who will he choose? Does it even matter? What does it mean to be American?
Kevin Costner (
Madeline Carroll (
The rest of the cast seems to have a good time with this project: Kelsey Grammer (
The concept of the story, written by writer-director Joshua Michael Stern (
Granted, I think it's equally unrealistic if Bud would make a 180-degree change. He's been a slack for forty-some years, after all. So in a way I appreciate the writers for not going down that route. Still, Bud's behavior eventually grates on my nerves as I start to say to myself, "Dude, grow up already." Bud's character is more suitable for gross-out comedies such as 
Thus lies the second problem of the script: the writers can't decide whether it's a family drama or a political satire. There are indeed some poignant moments, especially between Molly and Bud, who have the best onscreen relationship of the entire film. As a political satire, however, the film falls flat. The characters (especially Mr. President and Mr. Greenleaf) are very unconvincing, and the situations are simply absurd. The premise is outlandish to begin with -- it takes a huge dose of suspension of disbelief -- so add cartoonish characters to that mix and you have something that is half-cooked.