This film is a refreshing contrast to the latest batch of Shakespeare films.
Comment
07/12/02
Rate this Movie 
Hamlet (2000)
56
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work
Reviews Counted:84
Fresh:47
Rotten:37
Average Rating:5.8/10
Consensus: Stiff performances fail to produce any tension onscreen.
Runtime: 1 hr 52 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: Ethan Hawke stars in this modern update of Shakespeare's classic play. He portrays a young filmmaker in New York City who struggles to gain power of his deceased father's company, even as the new... [More]
Starring: Ethan Hawke, Julia Stiles, Kyle MacLachlan, Diane Venora
Director: Michael Almereyda
Get This Movie
Rent DVD
Click on the "ADD" button to put this movie into your Netflix queue.
Buy DVD
Reviews for Hamlet
Almereyda pares the drama down to its bloody core, leaving a potent tale of despair, madness and loss.
07/06/08
The lines are read for the most part with more feeling for the angry-stepchild plot than for the iambic pentameter.
04/27/07
Top CriticA perfect example of how a director with real vision can liberate the Bard for the times
10/22/01
[Hawke's] very lack of polish and overt skills make him a particular kind of tragic hero, that is, not heroic or even very compelling.
01/01/00
Consider it a primer for Kenneth Branagh's four and a half hour Hamlet opus.
04/19/03
It is difficult to take this Hamlet in quite the same serious way it is usually presented onstage, and that's just fine.
01/01/00
Almereyda modernises and streamlines without trivializing, and amplifies poetic melodrama with regular ingenuity and energy.
06/03/06
Vital and sharply intelligent.
01/01/00
Top CriticThe play's dreariness and Hamlet's feelings of isolation and inaction are powerfully conveyed in what is truly a remarkable film.
03/08/01
A high tech and cleverly staged adaptation of William Shakespeare's classic set in New York City in 2000.
01/01/00
One of this year's great films, a worthy addition in every way to the cinematic sub-genre that is Hamlet itself.
01/01/00
This sort of contemporizing is useful as a commentary both on Hamlet and our society.
03/08/01
If you're more adventurous and view the great 400-year-old Shakespeare works as platforms for reinterpretation and experimentation, this Hamlet with Ethan Hawke fascinates at nearly every turn.
03/08/01
Alternately clumsy and clever, it’s nonetheless the new order of Shakespeare.
01/01/00
A mostly well-acted piece that falters only slightly because of a couple of wrongheaded moves.
03/09/01
In a sense, it's B-movie Shakespeare, the same as Orson Welles' inspired version of Macbeth (1948), which was produced on a skimpy budget for a B-picture studio.
05/26/04
It may work only in fits -- as an experiment usually does -- but you also can't deny that this is a true, fresh adaptation.
03/08/01
It could prove almost as definitive -- and far more easily digestible -- than Branagh's textually complete version.
07/06/08
RT On Current TV
What’s Hot On RT
Fresh Links
Featured
MSN's Year in Review 
Take a look at MSN's choices for the Top 10 films of 2009.
40 Best Films of the 2000s
Last week, Moviefone offered us their worst films of the 2000s. Now see their 40 best!
10 Questions For Zac Efron
The Me and Orson Welles star answers reader questions on TIME.com.
Best Decade Ever!
Hollywood.com's C. Robert Cargill offers his thoughts on what the best decade for film was.
Pee-Wee's Big Adventure
In the AV Club's "Scenic Routes," Mike D'Angelo reminisces about the Tim Burton film.
Promos
Follow RT on Twitter
Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!
IGN RSS Feeds