The REEL Addict 

By Allan Tong of Holy Grails

Watching this movie is like watching a sitcom without a laugh track. The gags are on screen, but the visuals need an audience to provoke laughter. That may sound mean, for there are moments in Hamlet 2 that are funny, but those arise only here and there.

Steve Coogan plays Dana something-something (a running gag where no one can pronounce his surname), a failed actor who’s reduced to teaching indifferent kids at a high school in Tucson, Arizona. Dana is a loser, and he’ll soon lose his class to budget cuts. His students, mostly poor Latinos, don’t treat him with much respect, going so far as to dose his soft drink during an impromptu field trip. While Coogan is charming and is always a magnetic presence, his character is such a loser that it’s hard to feel anything but contempt for him. Who cares if he mounts a lavish multimedia stage production of Hamlet 2, the sequel to Shakespeare’s classic that somehow involves a time machine and Jesus Christ? Halfway through this film, Dana has lost every thread of dignity.

Some of that is due to Dana’s wife, Brie, superbly played by Catherine Keener.  Her comic performance lends some much needed angst to a film that’s full of broad gags and slapstick.  Brie wants a child, but suspects Dana is infertile and turns on him.  Somehow Keener makes her pain funny.

Another bright spot comes unexpectedly from the radiant Elizabeth Shue, who plays herself as a nurse at a fertility clinic that Dana and Brie visit.  Shue says that she left the Business after getting fed up with the bullshit.  Her visit to Dana’s drama class, who don’t remember who she is, is a highlight of the film.

The students, however, remain one-dimensional throughout. Two goody-goody whitebread kids fear their rough Latino classmates, though those racial tensions are never properly milked. Though Hamlet 2 references other white-teacher-in-ghetto movies such as Dangerous Minds it fails to match their level. We’ve seen this before, and done better.

The film feels like a long, slow build-up to the final act where the doomed drama class mounts Hamlet 2 in a production so elaborate that it would rival Broadway. Don’t ask what the play is about. It’s a chaotic mishmash which is the point. The play is more fun to watch than laugh at.

If Hamlet 2 reminds you of the gross laughs and gaudy musical showcases of South Park, it’s probably due to co-writer Pam Brady who wrote three seasons and co-produced Team America. In fact, Hamlet 2 probably would’ve worked better as an animation which would’ve offered the story’s exaggerations and unbelievable characters more latitude. In live action, however, the timing of the comedy is inconsistent. Director Andrew Fleming makes sunny Tucson look grey, blue and cold. He leaves the soundtrack empty where music could’ve punctuated jokes. And the editing is (again) inconsistent.

The DVD offers several bonus features, which partially makes up for the film’s shortcomings. The obligatory behind-the-scenes featurette full of star and creator interviews explains just what the hell this film is supposed to be about. The audio commentary by Brady and Fleming goes even further. Meanwhile, a few deleted scenes and a singalong add some fun.

Fun. That’s what Hamlet 2 is, a fun package, but as a comedy disappointing. Alas.

Film: 2 out of 5 stars
DVD: 3 out of 5