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HAMLET 2's Sexy Jesus is so funny, Capone would dry hump Him!!
Hey everyone. Capone in Chicago here.
While there are few bust-out-laughing moments in this Steve Coogan vehicle, I still spent 75 percent of HAMLET 2 giggling my buns off. The film proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Coogan will do anything for a laugh, usually with solid, if sometimes childish, results. In addition to Coogan's antics, I think the real weapons in HAMLET 2's arsenal are director/co-writer Andrew Fleming (THE CRAFT; DICK) and co-writer Pam Brady (a writing partner with Trey Parker on the SOUTH PARK movie and TEAM AMERICA), who have created such a consummate loser in Tucson-based high school drama teacher Dana Marschz that you can't help but relish in his every pain and still root for the guy.
Coogan has had a hit-and-miss career in Hollywood after soaring as a staple on British television and Michael Winterbottom's 24 HOUR PARTY PEOPLE. Films such as AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS and NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM didn't really play to Coogan's all-or-nothing strengths. But when you see him in the screamingly funny segment of Jim Jarmusch's COFFEE AND CIGARETTES (opposite Alfred Molina) or Sofia Coppola's MARIE ANTOINETTE or most recently as the film director in TROPIC THUNDER, you get a clearer sense of what he's capable of. HAMLET 2 puts Coogan firmly in the starring role, and he rises to the occasion in this imperfect but still highly watchable film that goes from good to great thanks to a series of closing-act musical numbers that bring the house down.
Coogan's Marschz is a terrible actor (his finest hour was apparently a herpes medication commercial). His job as a drama teacher to an ever-shrinking class is in jeopardy because each year's main production is a terrible adaptation of a popular movie (ERIN BROCKOVICH is the current year's selection). When the ninth-grade drama critic recommends Marschz come up with some original material, the idea intrigues him, especially after the school threatens to pull the plug on the program altogether. Marschz is the hopeless optimist who doesn't see how much his wife (Catherine Keener) despises him or just how desperate his situation truly is. When a group of "troubled teens" are forced into the class, Marschz sees it as a personal challenge to get them interested in theater, and he concocts a sequel to Hamlet, despite the fact that most of the characters in play die by the end. Using time-honored devices such as time travel and the introduction of Jesus as a character in the story, Marschz's wacko original musical begins to gain the acceptance of his entire class, who decide to put on the play independently after the drama program is killed by the school board.
Director Fleming wisely loads his supporting cast with fresh faces and true talent. I especially liked Melonie Diaz as Ivonne, who ends up with a key role in the play. Amy Poehler drops in as an ACLU attorney who threatens anyone who dares to try and shut down the play. Skylar Astin and Phoebe Strole are the class veterans, who are both just a little scared when they instantly become minorities in the now mostly Hispanic class. But the greatest role has to go to Elizabeth Shue playing a local nurse in the town, who just happens to actually be Elizabeth Shue, who has decided to forsake the Hollywood lifestyle for a simpler way of life. The fact that she would even be in a movie in which she gives an inspirational talk about acting, followed by a student asking her "Who are you?" says something about her willingness to do what it takes to get the laugh. Her reaction shots while watching the final musical are priceless.
As I said, the musical numbers will sell pretty much anyone on this movie. The songs are catchy, hilarious and borderline offensive. The production values are low, as they should be, but they still convey a sense of creativity that seems believable. And then there's Coogan as a sexually appealing Jesus H. Christ, complete with tight jeans and a wife-beater undershirt. His long locks personify everything I remember despising about high school drama, and his wuss-like violent rages are absolutely spell binding. Even Coogan's American accent absolutely nails a kind of projectile naiveté that some people have. He captures classic dufus without going overboard; a rare feat. What doesn't work as well is the focus on Marschz's home life. As much as I love Keener, those scenes just aren't as funny as the stuff with the class. In the end, she comes off looking like a world-class bitch. I'm also somewhat baffled by the almost wordless appearance of David Arquette, who plays a near-silent boarder in the Marschz home. It's almost funny that he's in the movie with no dialogue—emphasis on the "almost."
But these flaws don't take up too much time in what is otherwise a film guaranteed to set your pants a giggling. It relishes in some of life's most uncomfortable moments, and makes us laugh heartily at the misfortunes of others. I can't think of a better way to spend a summer afternoon or evening. No, it's not as good as TROPIC THUNDER, and I wouldn't try to convince you that it is. HAMLET 2's goals aren't as lofty as that masterpiece. But it is a movie that wants so very much to make you laugh and succeeds repeatedly.
-- Capone
capone@aintitcoolmail.com
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so hopefully this wont suck
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I just saw this a few days ago on TV and laughed my ass off! Dan Hedaya as Richard Nixon is just GOLD!
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It was better than Pineapple Express and I think in some ways a little funnier than T. Thunder. Coogan is freakin great the dude just makes me laugh. FUCK THE HOUSE BUNNY!
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Is Capone the only person working for AICN these days? It seems that every article in the past day and a half has been Capone-penned. Nice job picking up the slack, Capone! In other news: I've never typed "Capone" so many times... Capone.
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Is the funniest title ever. Doubt the movie can live up to it though.
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I nearly pee'd my pants when I saw the trailer for this before Midnight Meat Train. I hope to hell it plays here.
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So, what ... this isn't funny, at all? 'Cause Tropic Thunder was kind of a let-down.
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I'm jetting off to San Fran on Monday for some good old Polycom training (Polycom being the industry leader in my field, video teleconferencing). I'll have one whole day, three evenings and one day till noon to take in the great metropolis of San Fransisco. So where should I go see this while out there? I considered a drive to LA...but that's 11 hours and a deal-killer. ROCK ME SEXY JESUS!
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Damn does that woman look FINE!
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Those sluts look like the kind of chicks that would shoot you down in high school and make fun of you behind your back (like we did to THEM).
BRING BACK THE BUSTED T GIRLS!!!! -
THE PLACE WHERE DREAMS COME TO DIE
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quite disappointing. Only a couple laughs in the whole film, NONE of them from Ben Stiller or Jack Black, and the Tom Cruise thing was so STUPID - stunt casting that in all his scenes didn't elicit so much as a single chuckle in the entire packed theater.
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Um... Isn't that the character she ALWAYS plays? I love her, but she's pretty much the female Dabney Coleman, right? She always plays an asshole who, through some convoluted capitulation, is loved despite her attitude.
Thanks for the grown-up review, though. I was worried this would be too fucking silly, but now I think it sounds like a fun night out. -
even though I loved them both.
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It was funny. I hate Ben Stiller so i went with my girlfriend with no expectations. it made me laugh. Not the funniest movie ever or anything but it;s the funniest Ben Stiller movie i have seen.
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Yeah, I'm with you on the Cruise thing. The only thing I find even mildly funny about his appearance was those freakishly hairy forearms. However, the dumb, fat cow behind me just couldn't stop giggling every time she saw him on screen.
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except I feel she didn't do that with her role The 40 Year Old Virgin. Admittedly she's a bit overbearing at times in the movie, too, but I never saw her coming off as bitchy. I saw it more as exasperation (with her daughter) and (sexual) frustration. This may be splitting hairs, but it's discernable enough that you can legitimately "love her" without "convoluted capitulation" in this example.
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I've seen it 3 times (it seems every time I hang out with different friends we have to go see that one), and it's funnier each time...like most Ben Stiller movies...it needs time to soak in I guess...I'll def. be there for Hamlet 2
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"so therefore you should see it. Not because it sucks, but because they only wanted it to be mediocre."
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The Metroen is right in downtown. I was there last night and Hamelet 2 is there all day.
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4th and mission, powell street station for bart or muni, by most hotels... have fun.
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Seriously. No one will go see it. Sorry but that's the truth.
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Like the "Aids" songs in the Team America play? Count me in
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the movie...this movie will be the sleeper hit that they've (the studios marketing it) been hoping for
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In one of my college lit classes many years back, one of our assignments was to pen a sequel to a Shakespeare play. I wrote a pretty damn clever Hamlet 2, in verse and everything. Of course, nothing like the stuff that they're gonna do in this movie, but fuckin' hell, I should have cashed in that idea a long time ago. :-)
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Hamlet 2 looks funny or amusing enough to watch, and after seeing Tropic Thunder last night...i must say...WHAT is the big fucking deal, is it funny?...sure, but not THAT funny or THAT clever. i found Pineapple Express to be funnier than Tropic Thunder. another little PE and TT comparison, Danny McBride is hilarious in Pineapple Express.....what happened with him in Tropic Thunder???...what a waste.
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the phrase, "____ will do anything for a laugh." Does a comedic actor ever look at a script and say, "Hmm... nope. Not doing *that* for a laugh."
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really blow
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So I guess Keener is doing the same thing she does in every movie she's in.
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Insanely funny. Hopefully he can get a serious career going over here. . . he can be insanely funny in the right parts.
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She's funnier than Elizabeth Shue here to such a degree that rather than chalking it up to a simple difference in opinion, I feel a lecture about allowing women (in fiction and reality) to be imperfect and unlikable coming on. That scene in the Mexican restaurant is hilarious and I wish Keener's role had been a lot bigger.
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he was immense in Alan Pratridge and Saxondale. Plus i thought his appearance in Curb your enthusiasm was oneof the series' highlights. Shame he wasn't in Tropic Thunder for longer,
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to volunteer my services. Someone earlier suggested that we FUCK THE HOUSE BUNNY. You got it. Where is she?
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...Danny McBride IS NOT!
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You nailed it man. I actually really liked this movie. But I like Pineapple Express better. And fuck you if you don't. JK guys.. teehee LOL LMAO NSFW TTYL FUBAR
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and I've always been down to run a train on Anna Farris or however her name is spelled. Skeet Skeet
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I think I love you.
Name from Midnight Run, one of my fave films.
Quote from the Partridge, one of my fave TV shows.
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I like jesus, but he loves me. Which makes it a bit awkward.
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It looks pretty damn funny. I like Coogan, too, and hope this turns out to be his big break.
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