Hamlet 2

Hamlet 2

What happens when you mix Jesus with a sequel to Hamlet? You get an okay movie with some funny scenes, but it never takes anything too far. You can always do far worst.

When a washed up actor (Steve Coogan) starts teaching drama in high school, he envisions a stage play that is a sequel to Hamlet. The school and a few town folk don’t want him to make the film.

After watching the trailer, I was really looking forward to this movie. I thought the trailer was funny as hell. Well, the movie doesn’t really come that close to pissing off anyone and some of the story progressions are a little aimless. Some of the scenes involving Coogan going crazy run a little too long. And, some scenes are tedious.

What the film does right is some of the random things that happen in scenes, such as Coogan showing his balls to the entire class while doing karate. Most of the scenes with Coogan interacting with his dysfunctional class are fun to watch. I just wish there was more of that and less dealing with him and his wife.

The whole Elisabeth Shue subplot is hilarious with her playing a washed-up version of herself. See if you can catch all the Shue movie references. I remember having the biggest crush on her in The Karate Kid, and she still looks cute today. I’ll give her props for making fun of herself.

Steve Coogan is in most of the scenes and he handles himself fairly well. There were a few parts where he goes too loony, but I have no huge problems with his lead performance. His character is very similar to the hotheaded director in Tropic Thunder. This is the unsuccessful version of the character in Thunder.

In the end, the movie could have better if it didn’t pull any punches and actually tried to be offensive. It’s a middle of the road kind of comedy.

Grade: C

Coogan: “I loved you in Howard the Duck, Elisabeth Shue.”

Elisabeth Shue: “That was Lea Thompson. People tend to get us mixed up.”

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His next production: Rent 2: The Rise of the Silver Surfer

What does the Silver Surfer have to do with Rent? You just have to see the play.