Like The Rocker, another one of this late-August
cinematic-dumping-ground weekend’s many releases, Andrew
Fleming’s Hamlet 2 is a tough movie to review in that
it’s a straightforward comedy that doesn’t attempt anything
earth-shattering, stylistically or substantively. How much
can I blabber on about a motion-picture that I don’t
aggressively hate and, at the same time, don’t find to be
particularly striking? What I can say about Hamlet 2,
however, is that it’s actually funny, a trait that instantly
separates it from the rest of said dumping-ground’s film
crop, especially the aforementioned stale Rainn Wilson
vehicle.
Lead actor Steve Coogan plays Dana
Marschz, a high-school drama teacher who routinely churns out
theatrical-interpretations of Hollywood movies that nobody sees
or participates in and even the shrimp of a school-newspaper
critic hates. (The viewer is offered a glimpse of his take on
Erin Brockovich.) Due to the lack of interest in his
program, Dana is told that Drama will be axed from the
curriculum at the end of the year and with it will go his job.
Desperate to save his career and his class, he rallies his
newfound unenthused Hispanic students (who are only taking the
course because all the other electives have been cancelled) to
put on a sequel to Hamlet in which the many dead
characters from Shakespeare’s original work return to the stage
in a time-machine to (among other things) sing and dance with
Jesus and Hillary Clinton.
In his most bombastic role since
his movie-stealing turn opposite Alfred Molina in 2003’s
Coffee and Cigarettes, Coogan is the most prominent reason
for Hamlet 2’s success in spite of its simple nature. He
plays his character in a subdued fashion, but hits all the right
subtle notes along the way. Consider, for example, a sequence of
clips in which Dana writes the script for his gotta-be-stellar
play. Coogan turns something so simple as the look of confusion
his character exhibits while staring into a blank, uninspiring
computer-screen—and pet-cat when the animal enters the
frame—into a tremendously entertaining action. There isn’t
anything especially remarkable about his face-work during the
bit, but it’s goofy and unique and highly amusing, certainly
good enough to sustain a few minutes of screen-time. Coogan
maintains the same sort of moment-for-moment exuberance
throughout Hamlet 2, becoming audaciously effective as he
is allowed to become increasingly ridiculous as the movie
progresses. When it’s time for Dana’s play, which becomes
incredibly controversial due to its sexual and sacrilegious
content, to be performed, Coogan’s work is nearly electrifying.
Outside of Coogan’s central
tour-de-force, Hamlet 2 overcomes the trappings of its
conventional structure by always offering engaging and quirky
supporting characters. First introduced are Brie (Catherine
Keener), Dana’s distant hippy-dippy wife, and Gary (David
Arquette), the boarder the couple has taken in as a means of
supplementing Dana’s low income from teaching. Not too long into
the movie, it becomes obvious that Brie and Gary will have an
affair, which isn’t very funny in and of itself given that it
isn’t our sympathetic protagonist’s best interest, but it comes
across as such because of the way that Keener and Arquette
deliver the material. Fleming and South Park scribe Pam
Brady’s script lends itself to such an approach.
Also spicing matters up are Dana’s
most memorable new students, Yolanda (Natalie Amenula) and
Ivonne (Melonie Diaz). The former character awakened me to the
fact that slapsticky gags that force a person to fall in every
way humanly possible can still be handled in an amusing manner;
between Amenula’s performance and the situations developed,
Yolanda’s chronic (and sometimes hard-hitting) slips pack an
unexpectedly riotous punch. Most of the intrigue concerning
Ivonne generates from Diaz’ performance, which further proves
that the young actress has a bright future ahead of her in
Hollywood. Diaz is effortlessly charming in one of the film’s
smallest but most memorable roles.
Rounding out the notable list of
supporting cast-members, SNL’s Amy Poehler puts on a
scene-stealing performance as an ACLU attorney who comes to
Dana’s aid when his play is shunned by conservative school-board
members and parents. (Did I mention that musical accompaniment
for the already-subversive material is provided by the local
Tucson, Arizona Gay Men’s Chorus, which looks every bit like
you’d picture it?) The character doesn’t lend to the movie
forming an external political-position on censorship, wisely
functioning as a tool for Fleming and Brady to poke fun at both
the Right and the Left by highlighting the lunacy of what could
very well pass for a real ACLU-battle. Poehler hilariously plays
the attorney as a conniving attention-grabber, desperate to go
after anyone who might be opposed to Dana’s “expression of free
speech.” She’s frantically outrageous and consistently
hysterical.
Oh, and then there’s Elizabeth Shue
playing herself as a washed-up actress who goes into nursing to
get away from the spotlight! But I’ll let you experience that
story-thread for yourself. Impressively zany as it is—especially
in terms of Coogan’s interaction with Shue—I can’t say it leaves
much room for critical analysis.
Looking back at the first paragraph
of this review, I realize I may have been foolish in predicting
that it would be a difficult one to write. Yes, Hamlet 2
may be similar to The Rocker (which was nearly impossible
to waste 600+ words on) in that it doesn’t take any big chances.
However, I think I overlooked the film in claiming that I didn’t
find it “particularly striking.” The reason that it is funny
is that it is fresh; this just isn’t readily apparent
because the movie discovers said freshness in unexpected places,
not in story-based flourishes. In fact, the review has come to
me rather easily because I like a lot of small things about the
movie. Hamlet 2 may not amount to much in the end, but
it’s humorous and thoughtful enough to pass for a welcome
artistic diversion.