Review: ‘Hamlet 2’ pokes fun at theater, high school

Directed by: Andrew Fleming

Starring: Steve Coogan, Catherine Keener, David Arquette, Amy Poehler, Melonie Diaz, Joseph Julian Soria, Skylar Astin, Phoebe Strole, Shea Pepe, Elisabeth Shue

Rated: R

The first thing I did after seeing Christopher Guest’s improvisational comedy “Waiting for Guffman,” a film that did for amateur theater what “This is Spinal Tap” did for heavy metal music, was call the late Mick Denniston and tell him he had to see the movie. After his many years working in theater, I knew he would love it.

Andrew Fleming’s new comedy, “Hamlet 2,” is cut from the same cloth as “Guffman” –as well as Mel Brooks’ “The Producers.” But it also borrows from the caring-teacher genre with nods to “Dead Poets Society,” “Dangerous Minds” and “Mr. Holland’s Opus.”

Comic Steve Coogan is wildly popular in his native Great Britain and is making some inroads in the U.S. of late. His role here is fully expanded from the same sort of character he played in “Tropic Thunder.” In “Tropic Thunder” he was making a really bad war film and was killed early on in the proceedings. In “Hamlet 2,” he’s a never-was actor who has ended up as the drama teacher at a Tucson (the butt of many of this film’s jokes) high school. The class is made up of two teacher’s pets and a bevy of rowdy kids who end up in drama because the school dropped another class they were all going to take.

We are introduced to Coogan’s character, Dana Marschz (the last name is unpronounceable, another running gag), with a series of really bad but believable TV commercials. In one, he’s hawking a power-juicing device, and in another he proclaims, all smiles and walking with a pretty girl, “I’m having a herpes outbreak … but you’d never know it!”

Even in those roles, it’s apparent his acting chops are not A-list. So he teaches high school. His specialty is taking movies such as “Erin Brockovich” and making them into plays – plays that always get panned by the local drama critic. The critic, we come to learn, is a freshman at Dana’s high school who writes for the school paper.

When Dana learns his class is to be canceled because of budget problems, he decides (with some guidance from the critic) to produce an original play. He concocts a sequel to “Hamlet,” which, to make matters worse, is a musical.

Mr. Marschz gets around the fact that most of the main characters in “Hamlet” all die. His play starts by utilizing a time machine. Hamlet (and Jesus and Albert Einstein) travel back in time to save Ophelia, Gertrude and Laertes. There’s also a gay men’s choir singing Elton John’s “Someone Saved My Life Tonight” and Dana, as Jesus, doing a song called “Rock Me, Sexy Jesus.” Like “Tropic Thunder” and “Pineapple Express,” this film has bits that will offend some viewers.

The main plot and the resulting play are funny, but it’s the trio of women involved in subplots that take this film to its higher ground.

First, there’s the always-engaging Catherine Keener as Dana’s wife, Brie. She’s tired of not being able to get pregnant, convinces Dana it’s because his underwear is too tight and has him wear a caftan. The couple has also taken in a surly boarder who Brie despises … at first.

ACLU lawyer Cricket “I married a Jew” Feldstein gets involved when the school’s principal wants to shut the play down for being offensive. “Saturday Night Live” cast member Amy Poehler is a feisty firebrand, if also a caricature, as the liberal activist.

The play eventually takes place – not at the high school but at an abandoned warehouse.

The final side of the female triangle is Elisabeth Shue, playing herself. When Dana has to go to the hospital, he sees a nurse who looks remarkably like his favorite actress, Shue. The nurse confides that she is, indeed, Shue. She then explains how she simply got fed up with all of Hollywood’s pretensions and decided to do something worthwhile with her life.

Shue, a natural beauty, great actress and compelling screen presence, doesn’t seem to have aged a bit since her Oscar-nominated performance in “Leaving Las Vegas” in 1995. Her role in “Hamlet 2” – while underused – is one of the film’s most engaging. She is great at poking fun at Hollywood and herself.

“Hamlet 2” was co-written by director Andrew Fleming with Pam Brady, who also co-wrote “South Park: Bigger Louder & Uncut.” That’s just a word of advice/warning as to what kind of humor to expect.

Jim Wunderle owns Wunderle Sound Services and is a Springfield freelance writer and musician. He can be reached at info@wunderlesound.com.[[In-content Ad]]