Scotland, PA (2001)

To me, this movie is perfection.

Absolutely the worst movie.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Billy Morrissette directed the 2001 modern day retelling of Shakespeare's Macbeth with his Scotland, Pa. Starring James Le Gros, Maura Tierney, and Christopher Walken, the film explored the life of a man with a burger stand lacking all motivation, and his wife who would do anything to be her own boss. Scotland, Pa. is a fun reimagining of the Shakespeare classic showing the lasting impression the bard still has on authors and filmmakers, alike. Joe 'Mac' McBeth (James Le Gros) married out of his league to the love of his life. His wife, Pat (Maura Tierney) is smarter and more business savvy than her well-meaning yet uninspired husband. Pat has dreams of grandeur that far exceed her small town and the modest burger stand she and her husband operate. When Pat, frustrated with her life's trajectory, finally reaches her breaking point, she convinces her husband to kill the business manager and rob the restaurant. Despite the warnings and fortune telling of trouble on the horizon from some under the influence drifters, Mac goes along with Pat's plan. Initially, the two find some success and all looks to be going according to plan until Lieutenant McDuff (Christopher Walken) begins investigating. Much to his dismay, it looks as though Mac hasn't committed his last murder as his wife begins to pull the strings to save the small fortune amassed since the restaurant became theirs.I'm quite partial to Shakespeare adaptations, and Scotland, Pa. was a fun re-telling of Macbeth. As a child of the 90's it was fun to see James Rebhorn (R.I.P.) in this film, I remember him as Preston's dad in the Disney hit Blank Check. I'm never too taken by Christopher Walken's acting, but I found this role to be perfect for his naturally paused dictation. All-in-all, Scotland, Pa. is a good enough indie flick and a fun reimagination of a Shakespeare classic, but not one that will stay with an audience once finished.

The seminal concept is interesting, and for anyone under thirty who hasn't seen the actual play Macbeth or experienced Lily Tomlin, Steve Martin, The Marx Brothers, Tiny Fey or anyone else who puts wit and insight and richly mined humor ahead of stoner attitudes and teen obsessions, this might be a very funny movie. As an independent film, it certainly has the right to its style and convictions, and while I found it a fascinating idea, I got lost in a haze of often indecipherable dialogue and Sophomoric meanderings. As he always does, Mr. Shakespeare will survive being utilized as a springboard, no matter how misguided: the same play was used as a gangster film in the 1950s called Joe Macbeth, and that was rather a mess as well; a fascinating version of the play is the Orson Welles Indie version, made in 18 days on old Hollywood Western sets at Republic Studios, lit dark and made wet--it isn't all clear, but its a fascinating immersion in the genuinely dark world of the renegade Scot and his ambitious mate and its haunting images stick with the viewer. This not so much.

I have the DVD of this movie & I think the director, Morissette did an incredible job-- I am pretty sure this was his first movie. I love the soundtrack & think the casting was excellent. This film appeals to anyone that enjoys dark comedies..I recommend watching the movie w/ the director's comments included in the feature--- From that I realized that the director is Maura Tierney's husband... and she truly inspired the "Pat MacBeth" character's role in the story.. Scotland PA IS SUCH AN AWESOME MOVIE... i give this movie ten stars and do not think a single thing should have been done differently.. I could see this movie over & over without getting sick of it.

Spoilers herein.Projects like this do not derive from their source as much as reference them. Therefore, you really have to know the source in order to appreciate what has been done. A fast food idea (one which actually spawned a trillion dollar industry) instead of a monarchy? A grease burn for a bloody hand? An accidental death (after ineptly planning murder) in place of a careful plot? It all depends on what you see in the source.I don't consider `MacBeth' one of Shakespeare's better tragedies. The man had a particular ax to grind: a rude Scot had just become king, one with an unnatural fear of the supernatural and a non-northern Catholic notion of fate. The play works at several simultaneous levels, most barely subliminal.Yes, the trailer trash thing works. And the fast food thing works, at least for me. And they can have their tone which mocks the original; this _is_ the age of irony after all and it makes sense to side with the trash.But the dissonance is in the handling of the witches. MacBeth's witches were real, deeply sexual, penetrating the blood of all the characters. They cause, not just see. The witches in `Scotland' are something the credits call `hippies,' which I suppose is the gen-X writer‘s term for stoners. These guys are comic, possessed, ordinary people. That takes all the gas out of this for me.Want to see cool adaptations of Shakespeare? See the Ethan Hawke `Hamlet.' Absolutely right on translation: Hammy and his buddies as film students. Or Godard's `King Lear' with Woody Allen as the Fool.Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.