Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 12/19/2008 Run time: 92 minutes Rating: R
Just when it seems as if things can't get any worse for high-school drama teacher Dana Marschz (Steve Coogan), he quips, "My life is a parody of a tragedy." Yet that very ability to laugh in the face of defeat will allow this failed actor to triumph over adversity. A lovably ridiculous dreamer like Waiting for Guffman's Corky St. Clair, Marschz lives in Tucson with his sarcastic wife (Catherine Keener) and their silent boarder (David Arquette). Though he tries to inspire, like Richard Dreyfuss in Mr. Holland's Opus, only two students (Spring Awakening's Skylar Astin and Phoebe Strole) share his passion for theatrics. When the principal decides to eliminate his department, Marschz makes a bold move: he writes an original play, lets the class contribute their own unique talents, and puts the whole thing on as a fundraiser (they'll need to bring in $6,000). Sure, everyone dies at the end of Shakespeare's classic, but in Marschz's musical sequel, Hamlet 2, a time machine allows the Danish prince to turn back the clock to set things right. Just as his production starts to take shape and retired actress Elisabeth Shue (played by Shue) offers her support, his marriage hits the rocks, he starts drinking again, and the community protests against numbers like "Rock Me Sexy Jesus." (Amy Poehler portrays his ACLU attorney.) Though Andrew Fleming's comedy follows the usual inspirational instructor trajectory, ribald humor helps the medicine go down and Coogan gives his most unhinged performance since Tristram Shandy. --Kathleen C. Fennessy Stills from Hamlet 2 (Click for larger image)
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 3.5 / 5.0
Not an "A":
This movie had potential, but for the most part it wastes the talent of such people as David Arquette, Catherine Keener and Poehler. Elizabeth Shue is decent in a glorified cameo. The story involves a failed actor(Peter Coogan) who is now teaching drama at a basically all white school. While trying to have a baby with his wife, he finds his class has been filled with students from a local more urban school and also that the drama department will be cut next semester. Trying to save his class, he begins to... more info
Hamlet 2 - Audience 1 - A Close Call:
"High School Musical" was never like this. Drama teacher Dana Marschz aims to avert school budget cuts in the arts by staging his self-written play, "Hamlet 2" using his polyglot class The movie is campy to an extreme. It makes little sense but, if you can suspend your disbelief for 90 minutes, you may be rewarded with a few chuckles. The latter include the show-stopping tunes, "Raped in the Face" and "Rock Me Sexy Jesus." Local authorities protest, the ACLU steps in and the movie has a farcical... more info
"EVERYONE DESERVES A SECOND CHANCE":
What a delicious ride Hamlet 2. I will regret to my dying day not having seen it on the big screen in a theater full of people where I could have enjoyed the "vitality of the shared experience". The writers of this film..are you reading this? I LOVE YOU. I get it!!! "It doesn't how much talent you lack, as long as you have enthusiasm" Steve Coogans character is the ENDEARINGLY human representation of Rumi's classic poem "Passion makes the old medicine new: Passion lops off the bough of... more info
Questionable Inspiration Techniques:
"Hamlet 2" stars Steve Coogan as Dana Marschz, a failed actor-turned-high-school drama teacher. Low on the talent scale, Dana still has ambitions and harbors passions, but only at work. At Tucson's West Mesa High School, Dana regards himself as an inspirational teacher, but his adaptations of popular films performed by his top students, Rand and Epiphany (Skylar Astin, Phoebe Strole), are not clicking. When his latest effort, re-creating "Erin Brockovich," is panned by the ninth grade drama critic and his... more info
