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Hamlet 2

Hamlet 2 (2008)

January. 21,2008
|
6.3
|
R
| Comedy Music

In this irreverent comedy, a failed actor-turned-worse-high-school-drama-teacher rallies his Tucson, AZ students as he conceives and stages politically incorrect musical sequel to Shakespeare's Hamlet.

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Reviews

BlazeLime
2008/01/21

Strong and Moving!

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Stoutor
2008/01/22

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

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Roxie
2008/01/23

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

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Curt
2008/01/24

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

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richirwin
2008/01/25

The first 10 minutes of this movie was laughing-out-loud funny and the rest of the movie was not far behind. I am a big Steve Coogan fan and this is probably his best comedy. Throw in Elizabeth Shue playing herself and Amy Poehler as an ACLU lawyer and you have a quite a movie. Steve Coogan's character writes the Hamlet 2 play for his High School drama class. It is a time-traveling musical which features Jesus Christ in a major role. The musical numbers are done very well with some very funny lyrics.Some of my favorite scenes involve the Steve Coogan character talking with his harshest critic - a young student at the school who offers Coogan some sage advice.

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ritera1
2008/01/26

I have this belief that deep down, we're all living silly lives.And that is not more evident than with creative people. I myself and am an aspiring creative person. Am I any good? That's up for debate.In this we have a guy who has passion for his craft of acting. Passion that eclipses his obvious lack of talent and failings in life. There is a lovable tragedy to all of that, especially since there are so many talented people who can't get anywhere in life 'cause they are devoid of those business and political skills.It makes me think that the human race went totally wrong when they went from satisfying their basic urges and ventured into creativity and thought.But this is well done all around. I personally didn't like the happy ending but I'm sure I would be outvoted by everyone else. (I was looking for the end of Amadeus.) To me, this character was what he was. A lovable failure with a crappy play. Even the character knew that. He did his best and it wasn't good enough for rock 'n' roll. You can't ask for more than a personal best. But that's life, more than not.

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FlashCallahan
2008/01/27

Dana Marschz is a failed actor and recovering alcoholic who's moved to Tucson to teach high school drama, where he's plagued by bad reviews, student indifference, budget woes, and his own teaching limitations.Because the other electives are closed, he finds himself with a large class of seeming gang-bangers, and the principal informs him that drama will be cut next trimester.On the advice of a student reviewer, Dana decides to stage his own play, a sequel to "Hamlet" in which the prince and Jesus, with the use of a time machine, try to save Gertrude and Ophelia.....Like all good British comedians, Coogan gets to headline an American comedy on his own merits, don't count around the world in 80 days, the film was about spectacle. And we get more or less the same result as we had before, mediocre film, mediocre returns.It's not Coogans fault, the material he is given is far below him, and it shows. The idea is sound and the actual 'Hamlet 2' is breathtakingly bizarre, it's just the rest of the film fails miserably with typecast college kids and throwing a couple of bizarre roles to slightly famous people doesn't make a movie funnier.Like other films where British comedians have took a Hollywood film on their own, True Identity, Drop Dead Fred, and Ghost Town, the idea is sound but the outcome is unfunny. Coogan appears like he isn't allowed to be Coogan, and explore more, Instead he falls over and puts on a ridiculous accent.Wanted to like it, but just didn't in the end.

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zetes
2008/01/28

While definitely flawed, I liked this film quite a bit. A high school drama teacher (Steve Coogan, yet again trying to break into the American market) writes his first-ever original play for his students after many failures at adapting popular Hollywood movies. Unfortunately, this play, a sequel to Hamlet in which Hamlet and Jesus travel through time, is a little bit offensive for high school. The principal tries shutting it down, but Coogan and his students are eager to go on with it, even garnering defense from the ACLU. The film's main problem is that the play itself, which makes up the climax of the movie, isn't as much fun as you expect from the previous descriptions. Much of the stuff that leads up to the play is quite wonderful, though. I think Coogan's character is very well written, a former alcoholic who wanted to be a famous actor but wasn't talented, who has ended up with a small, deteriorating high school program, who has a wife (Catherine Keener, great) who misses out on no opportunity to emasculate him. Coogan does an American accent, which at first annoyed me, but which I eventually figured out lent a lot to his wound-up character. The high school students are also very funny. Elisabeth Shue has a role as herself which should have been funnier than it is, but it's nice to see her again.

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