Starring Steve Coogan, Catherine Keener. Written by Pam Brady, Andrew
Fleming. Directed by Andrew Fleming. (14A) 92 min. Opens Aug 22.
Hamlet 2 mutilates a holy trinity of old storytelling traditions (Shakespeare, the New Testament, er, musical theatre), but it thrives firmly on a most unholy recent one. Splattering forth indiscriminately from the pen of Pam Brady (South Park), this Sundance-approved comedy feels random in its sacred cow–tipping abandon. That makes for plenty of audacity, some of it funny when isolated in its own anarchic right. It also makes for a half-assed feature — the kind whose creators probably had more of a blast making than audiences will have watching.
Musical showpieces entitled “Rock Me Sexy Jesus” and “I Feel Like I’ve Been Raped in the Face” aside, Hamlet 2 would be infuriatingly patchy were the work not shouldered by Steve Coogan (see: Interview), who manages to preserve his dignity as Dana Marschz, a most undignified actor-turned-drama-teacher. Dana’s a complicated buffoon: he’s passionate but lacks talent, he’s self-obsessed but lacks self-awareness, he’s plucky but haunted by past traumas — and his surface optimism is besieged when he discovers that his unpopular theatre program is being phased out at the Tucson high school where he teaches. Compounded with the lack of respect shown him by his caustic wife (Catherine Keener) and the pack of Latino students forced to take his class, it’s enough to drive a guy back to the bottle. Cue the let’s-put-on-a-show madness — the show being Dana’s self-penned sequel to Hamlet, a musical monstrosity with themes of redemption, forgiveness and time travel.
Yet Dana’s not the only inept force behind a project called Hamlet 2. Real-life director and co-writer Andrew Fleming (Threesome) bungles the crucial task of arranging this mess into a sharp satire, though he does thread in some mildly amusing running gags (Amy Poehler’s racist ACLU lawyer; Elisabeth Shue as herself; tough vatos from rich, liberal families). If nothing else, Hamlet 2 is an exercise for the versatile Coogan to play a vulnerable, even lovable answer to his Alan Partridge. A master at humiliation humour, Coogan gives Dana layers of emotion amid broad slapstick that requires him to fall down and say “Ow!” a lot. It’s kinda poetic that Coogan comes out of Hamlet 2 unscathed.