Hamlet

Starring: Ethan Hawke, Kyle MacLachlin, Diane Venora, Sam Shepard, Bill Murray, Liev Schreiber, Julia Stiles, Steve Zahn, Karl Geary
Directed by: Michael Almereyda
Rating: R
Genre: Drama, Romance, Thriller
2000

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Hamlet (Ethan Hawke) struggles against his uncle (Kyle MacLachlin), whom he believes poisoned his father to take control of his business.

Review:

Tim: The 2000 version of Hamlet is somewhat similar to 1996's version of Romeo + Juliet- you take a famous Shakespearean play, you set it in modern times, and yet you keep the Bard's original language. While that worked well for the Leonardo DiCaprio and Clare Danes film, it doesn't quite work as well here. I thought this was an interesting attempt to do something different with one of the most famous plays in the English language, but it was ultimately a bit too forgettable.

Probably the best aspect of this entire film is seeing how it updated the story for modern times. For example, Hamlet's father owned the Denmark Corporation (indeed, something is rotten in Denmark), they use guns instead of swords (except for the inexplicable fencing scene), and messages arrive via fax, not messenger. It's kind of fun to see the old story in a modern setting. And yet, that alone won't make a great movie.

I felt like several scenes were not nearly as effective as they could have been. The script messed with certain aspects of the story that I wish they could have left alone. The most famous scene in "Hamlet" is his "To be or not to be" soliloquy. I felt like the film really dropped the ball here. First off, they foreshadow the soliloquy earlier by having Hamlet start it, and then later, we get the full thing. I didn't like that. I also feel like Blockbuster video wasn't the best place to have Hamlet deliver it. I understand why they chose that location, but it removed any sense of danger from the scene. Blockbuster is one of the safer places I can imagine to debate whether or not to commit suicide. I also felt slightly disappointed Hamlet didn't hold up a skull and say, "Alas, poor Yorick. I knew him well". We actually see a scene of this on a video, but it never actually happens. I was looking forward to seeing how they did that in modern times. All in all, I felt like the film squandered some of its biggest opportunities.

I thought the cast was decent, but not great. Ethan Hawke was fine as Hamlet, but his performance didn't stand out for me in the least. It was average in every sense, and I feel like I'll soon forget everything about it. He will certainly never be one of my favorite Hamlets. Kyle MacLachlin was fine, but not great. I liked the casting of Sam Shepard as the Ghost. He played his part well and brought creepy seriousness to the film. Bill Murray was a fun addition, although he adds only a little. I actually really liked Liev Schreiber here, and I thought he did a good job. More than anyone else in the cast, he seemed comfortable with speaking Shakespeare's words. Julia Stiles felt out of place as Ophelia. I just don't think she had a good concept of the character, and I left the film feeling blase about her performance. She wasn't memorable in the least. I liked seeing Steve Zahn, but he only had a few short scenes.

In the end, I found Hamlet to be a mildly amusing attempt to put a modern twist on the age old story. It was fun to see how they cleverly weaved the story into today's world. Unfortunately, the end result was a bit disappointing. I never felt any emotional connection to the characters, and the whole cast left me feeling a bit underwhelmed. I didn't hate this movie, but it wasn't much fun to sit through, either. There's lots of film versions of "Hamlet", and I have to say that I would likely never choose this one above some of the others. This was a nice attempt to do something different, but the movie as a whole is weak.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 6



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Romeo + Juliet, "O"