Movie Review - 'Hamlet 2'

Hamlet 2

Starring Steve Coogan, Catherine Keener, and Elisabeth Shue
Directed by Andrew Fleming
Rated R

When you see that a comedy is called Hamlet 2, your expectations either go up or down. The title tells you something, and you have to have some reaction to it. Odds are you have a fair understanding of The Danish Play even if you’ve never read Hamlet. And if you think making it this far without having to proves something, then the something you've proven is that you like depriving yourself life’s perfections. So, before you see a frame of Hamlet 2, you’re aware that this film in some manner endeavors to make a follow-up to a story that simply can’t have one. I made the same mistake myself, for I had not yet met Dana Marschz (Steve Coogan). Marschz (it’s pronounced “marshht-s,” I think) is a failed actor, and categorizing him as a failure in that pursuit may actually be giving him too much credit. So Marschz and his lush of a wife (Catherine Keener) leave the genital herpes commercials behind them and move to Tucson, where an unenthusiastic drama class will learn from the best. Or at least the best available at that moment. Or at least the best available at that moment in that town who will also work for gas money. When Marschz learns the high school will cancel the drama program, which to that point had only embarked on productions of Hollywood films like Erin Brockovich, the teacher swings into action, writing a sequel to the greatest piece of drama in the English language. This time, though, Marschz promises it will have a happier ending.

If I had to compare Hamlet 2 to something, it would be Christopher Guest’s Waiting for Guffman, which I believe is his most complete mockumentary. Hamlet 2 may not be strange and consistently funny in my book, but it is a lot more accessible. There are more universal jokes in this film, and when the time comes to stage the play, a very familiar formula takes over. Formulas are not bad things for movies, incidentally.

Hamlet 2 gets a lot of mileage out of Marschz’s unbelievably daffy storyline (it involves Einstein and a musical number called “Rock Me, Sexy Jesus”), and miles pure gold with Coogan, an occasionally abrasive English comedian who is also unbelievably good in 24 Hour Party People and the incredibly bizarre Tristram Shandy. He shows something here he hasn’t before, however: Dana Marschz is likable and, sadly, believable. Since you had some reaction to the title Hamlet 2, let me reassure you that if your expectations were raised, it was with good reason. In addition to being unexpectedly funny in expected situations, the performance by Coogan is worth the price of admission all on its own.

Comments

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