Brady and Fleming, who co-wrote the script, build to a feverish finale, 15 minutes of pure transgressive laughter when Hamlet 2 is finally performed.
Comment
09/05/08
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Hamlet 2 (2008)
62 %
Reviews Counted: 118 Fresh: 73 Rotten:45 Average Rating: 6.2/10
Consensus:
The script's biting premise and Steve Coogan's endearing, off-the-handle performance make Hamlet 2 an hysterical -- if slightly painful -- ride.
Rated: R [See Full Rating]
Runtime: 1 hr 32 mins
Theatrical Release: Aug 27, 2008 Wide
Box Office: $3,152,510
Synopsis: “The hit, the very palpable hit” of the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, this irreverent comedy centers on one teacher’s overzealous quest to mount a high school musical. Steve Coogan (“Night at the Museum”) portrays Dana Marschz; the last name is pronounced…oh, any attempt is close enough,... [More]
Genre: Comedies
Starring: Steve Coogan, Catherine Keener, David Arquette, Amy Poehler, Elisabeth Shue
Director: Andrew Fleming
Screenwriter: Andrew Fleming, Pam Brady
Producer: Eric Eisner, Aaron Ryder, Leonid Rozhetskin
Composer: Ralph Sall
Screenwriter: Andrew Fleming, Pam Brady
Producer: Eric Eisner, Aaron Ryder, Leonid Rozhetskin
Composer: Ralph Sall
Reviews
I laughed enough while I watched it, but as I write this review, I realize how shabby it really is. And Marschz is annoying.
09/05/08
Silly, inconsequential fun with enough laughs to make it worth a trip to the megaplex.
09/04/08
The lowbrow humor in Hamlet 2 works consistently well, but much more intelligent jokes are launched from the wry lips of Catherine Keener.
09/03/08
a wildly uneven satire--not nearly as controversial or as funny as you might have expected.
09/03/08
Hamlet 2 has a lot on its mind, not all of it good. You can tell everyone involved here knows what they're doing %u2014 it's just that they have too many balls in the air and can't effectively juggle them at once.
09/03/08
There's something admirable about a comedy that celebrates the provocative nature of art, even if that comedy doesn't quite provoke as much as it could have.
09/01/08
There are several pieces of vulgar language in the film that some viewers might find objectionable. I found them neither objectionable nor particularly funny. In fact, that sums up how I felt about the entire film.
08/31/08
Anyone who has ever been involved in amateur theater, or for that matter who has been involved with anyone involved in amateur theater, will applaud 'Hamlet 2.'
08/31/08
The sheer absurdity of it all allows one to forgive the fact that it never truly realizes its potential.
08/30/08
Very funny. Even though his hands are nowhere on it, you can feel the presence of John Waters everywhere.
08/29/08
There is nothing wrong with Hamlet 1. It doesn't need further explanation. The Bard locked down all the loose ends and there is just no need for a sequel.
08/29/08
[It] is not going to be for every taste, but it is easily the funniest movie to be released this year.
08/29/08
The result is comparatively mild in a summer of comedies so politically incorrect that one of them earned a boycott.
08/28/08
Top Critic
Will just go down as a quirky film released at a time when bigger movies were starting to wind down and this was worth taking a chance on.
08/28/08
Collapses, despite a game and talented cast, and a brilliant concept. Well, concepts don't make movies.
08/28/08
Director Andrew Fleming tends to err on the side of volume, blowing up jokes two or three sizes larger than they probably needed to be. But all sins are quickly forgiven once the curtain rises on Mr. Marschz's Opus.
08/27/08
[It] was beaten to the punch by Christopher Guest's Waiting for Guffman, which despite its off-the-cuff nature actually gets these people, feels more dangerous, and has way better songs.
08/27/08
Related Forums
"wacky" play concept....not funny.
by: crossouttheD 8/27
by: crossouttheD 8/27
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