Hamlet 2
If “Hamlet 2” seems a little hit-and-miss, it’s because films that swing for the fence so frequently tend to be. Don’t take the B- grade as a deterrent to avoid this movie if you’re into racy material, comic bombs, and Elisabeth Shue- it’s far more entertaining than most of the movies I rate this way. In a summer overloaded with sharp and smart laughs, “Hamlet 2” goes way down the I.Q. chart for its’ satirical bite. If the film lacks the polish of a “Tropic Thunder” or “Get Smart,” well, that’s part of its’ charm.
That and the ballsy lead performance by Steve Coogan, the British comic whose star has been rising past the remake most Americans were introduced to him in- a misguided “Around the World in 80 Days”- with star turns in small roles like “Coffee & Cigarettes” (in arguably that film’s most brilliant vignette) and “Tropic Thunder” (he was the ill-fated director) and a tour de force in the underseen “Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story.” “Hamlet 2” should be his breakout party in American as he plays Dana Marschz (just try pronouncing that last name…everyone else in the film does), an actor reduced to teaching drama at an Arizona high school after a career in commercials after Hollywood didn’t want him. But his idea of theatre is reproducing films like “Erin Brockovich” on the stage, which the school’s drama critic rightfully lambasts him for; “Rushmore’s” Max Fleischer put on more professional productions, so did “Waiting for Guffman’s” Corky St. Claire. His latest failure means a bleak future for his beloved drama class, which up until now consisted only of dedicated thespians Rand (Skylar Astin) and Epiphany (Phoebe Strole). But cutbacks have forced more people to join in, much to their displeasure and Dana’s rejoice- he finds himself inspired to put something new on, an idea he’s had for many a year now.
Enter “Hamlet 2,” in which Hamlet and co. are brought together with Jesus, Einstein, and Satan in the modern day to work out their personal demons in song. The centerpiece song of “Rock Me Sexy Jesus” is a show-stopping, toe-tapping pleasure to behold, even when parents and prudes voice their opposition and an ACLU lawyer (Amy Poehler, making up for “Baby Mama” big-time) makes a First Amendment case out of it. Can the firestorm around the production make up for the hurt of Dana’s wife (a bitter and biting Catherine Keener) getting pregnant by their roommate Gary (David Arquette) when Dana is shooting blanks? Can a surprise meeting with Elisabeth Shue- of “Karate Kid” and “Leaving Las Vegas” fame- at a sperm clinic (she’s a nurse, sick of Hollywood’s BS) help him find the inspiration to carry on when everything stacks up against him? (I know I’d be inspired in one way if I met Shue- still quite the hottie- at a sperm clinic…sorry. 😉 ) Shue playing herself as a content-to-be-not-famous starlet is a winning stroke in this comedy where the laughs in the script by “South Park” co-writer Pam Brady and co-writer/director Andrew Fleming (the unfairly forgotten “Dick”) may not come as frequently as you might want them to, but when they come, they last a long time, mostly at the expense of Coogan’s sharp performance, but sometimes because of the fact that well, anything goes in comedy, and where watching a movie called “Hamlet 2” could have been a tragedy, Coogan and Shue help give it the happy ending you want to see.
