Hamlet 2

Hamlet 2 is a story about a high school theater teacher in Tucson, Arizona who isn't quite where he'd hoped to be in life (aside from Tuscon). After lackluster results from an attempted acting career, Dana (portrayed by Steve Coogan) finds himself in this arid town teaching a failing theater course and living with his humorously alcoholic wife (played by Catherine Keener) and their roommate-out-of-necessity (yes, that is David Arquette and yes, I also thought he was dead). School funding issues flood his class with a slew of not-typical-theater students whose regular elective classes have been canceled. Amidst his struggle to help them find the passion for theater Dana finds that his class too will soon be canceled. The solution? Why, to write his own original play and turn it into the greatest theatrical performance ever to grace an Arizonian stage of course! That's brings us to the films title - and that of his new play - Hamlet 2. Yeah. It involves Jesus, a time machine, and greasers... so don't say you weren't warned. That should do it for now, so let's get on with the ratings...

Original Release: 2008
Running Time: 92 minutes
Hardee-Har-Har - $1
It's funny... it is. It's just not crazy-memorable funny. The concept is funny... the dialogues is funny... the actors are funny... just not SUPER funny. I laughed while watching it, but didn't have that continued laughter that you get for the first couple hours after some movies.

Acting - $1
Everybody did pretty well here... but again, none of it really knocked my socks off. Alcoholic and bitchy Catherine Keener was pretty awesome, but not enough to carry the rest of the ensemble up to the two dollar mark.

Repeat Play - $1
I'm going to watch it again... I know that now. I don't see myself watching it on a monthly basis, but I can rest assured that this will be gracing my DVD player with its presence again relatively soon. I know I say this somewhat often, but this is also one of those movies that I like to watch with other people since it has not been widely seen. If you're interested in a viewing, then feel free to let me know.

Hello Ladies - $0
I have a soft-spot for Catherine Keener... I've admitted that here before. And of course there is Elizabeth Shue, but both of these ladies are in pretty minimal characters (with Elizabeth actually playing herself). Most of the other female roles are young enough for me to not consider them ratable. Sorry ladies, but you've been disqualified. See me in 4 years... or at least when you are in a role that doesn't place you in high school. This boy's got standards and morals (despite popular opinion).

Billicious - $2
Hamlet 2 is a perfect example of why I have this category. I liked the movie... a lot. I talked to people about it at work first thing Monday morning. As I stated above, it was funny and I will be watching it again... despite the low rating I REALLY liked the movie! I swear! So this is my opportunity to pad the numbers a little bit and give a good movie a better rating than it would get otherwise.
Total Rating: $5

Looking for a few laughs with familiar faces during an absurdly delightful film? Then give Hamlet 2 a try. High school theater kids, jocks and delinquents alike will all be able to relate with the quirky characters that managed to find their way into every high school. If you were home schooled... well... then you probably have bigger social-skill issues than whether or not you can enjoy a film that wasn't crammed down your throat with the same comedic actors and jokes that you see every time you walk into the cineplex. Before even getting this one posted I received notes from people that loved Hamlet 2, so if you won't take my word then take theirs. That's all for now!