Bard 2 Bad

Another case of Sundance-induced hypoxia, Hamlet 2 sold for 2 much money (a rumored $10 million) during that January film festival, opened 2 rather poor reviews, and 2 predictably sank at the box office, grossing around $5 million. 2 bad, you ask?

Hamlet 2 arrived at a moment when mocking the small-town Arizona dreams of a frustrated actor and high-school drama teacher (Steve Coogan) was easy, 2 easy. In an Americanized version of his British TV host Alan Partridge (which is genius), Coogan plays yet another guy fundamentally deluded about his place in life, mistaken about his talent (i.e., the lack thereof), whose unfounded hubris is played for laughs. Dana Marschz, his clueless character here, tries to save the school drama program by staging his own sequel to Hamlet. The surprise--for him, anyway--is that Hispanic kids from Tucson take the assignment seriously, and save his sorry ass. The film came out in August, by which time any striver would be grateful for such community support. Dana led them into this mess. The movie's plot is essentially his bailout.

With the song "Rock Me, Sexy Jesus" as a hook, Dana's musical stage production of Hamlet 2 drags in controversy--cue the ACLU--the way it does supporting performers (Amy Poehler, Elisabeth Shue, David Arquette, and Catherine Keener). As a movie, however, it just plays like a series of sketches. On YouTube or as a SNL digital short, Hamlet 2 might've succeeded. Here, as the actual Hamlet gravediggers might say, the jokes are mostly food for the worms.