While watching "Hamlet 2," you may be bombarded by a number of questions that seem important. "Who is Steve Coogan?" you might find yourself thinking. "How did a barrage of misfits in Tucson magically learn to act and sing?" and "Why is the funniest joke about Elizabeth Shue, an actress who has been a blip on the blockbuster radar since the late 1990s?" Though these questions may seem minor, they'll consistently make you question the validity and overall merit of the movie at large.
Not to say the film is bad, though in fact, quite the contrary. As far as being entertaining, this movie succeeds to a point, managing to stay interesting despite its "Sister Act" formula. Another plus is that it only lasts a gloriously short 90 minutes, a feat which seems too rare amid the plethora of self-indulgent three-hour crap-fests, which lack any editing whatsoever. The movie's real failure is in the way it was advertised and executed as a whole.
If you've seen the previews or heard the buzz, you're expecting an irreverent comedy, a "Waiting For Guffman" meets "Anchorman." However, seeing it with these preconceptions will cause severe disappointment.
The first hour, despite a few forced jokes, is rather somber. The movie opens with a detailed portrayal of the awful life of Coogan's character, Dana Marschz, who suffers abuse as a child, failure as an actor, low-income employment, a deteriorating marriage and to top it off, the news that due to financial problems, acting will be cut from the high school curriculum.
The plot follows Marschz as he enlists a ragtag group of "gangstah" Latino students to help put on his "revolutionary" musical sequel to Hamlet in a last-ditch effort to save drama.
Playing the character in a relatable and likeable way, Coogan makes Marschz rather pitiable. Unlike Ron Burgundy of "Anchorman" or Corcky St. Clair of "Guffman," Marschz is not a vain, self-confident caricature but rather a human to whose problems we can actually relate, and that just isn't funny.
If viewed as a comedy, the film parodies two types of movies. One is the "inspiring teacher" genre "Mr. Holland's Opus," "Sister Act," "Take the Lead" and two is the "lets-put-on-a-show" genre, reminiscent of the cheesy Broadway productions of old. A few times the parody comes through, but for the most part, the writers break the cardinal rule of parody becoming serious. There are points at which I wondered whether the movie was poking fun at these genres or taking part in them. Even when the movie spoofs, the jokes are hardly strong enough to stand alone and manifest through the mostly slapstick humor you've seen before. The comedy really doesn't improve until the last 30 minutes, when the movie completely changes.
The actual production of the play, "Hamlet 2," within the movie makes watching it completely worthwhile. I'll limit spoilers. Suffice it to say it somehow manages to mix Hamlet, Jesus, light sabers and a time machine into one incredibly funny and strangely profound musical. More than that, it manages to fit in the movie as a sunflower blossoming from a sad manure.
In short, the movie isn't what you'd expect. It's not something you'll find on T-shirts and bumper stickers or quoted by your roommates for years to come. But it's also not a vain, preachy message. It's just nice, short and simple the perfect combination for a lazy Sunday afternoon.
