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Idiocy is the soul of wit in 'Hamlet 2'

Katjusa Cisar  —  8/29/2008 11:59 am

"Hamlet 2" stars British comedian Steve Coogan as a hammy actor named Dana Marschz who can't get beyond bit roles in herpes medication ads and "Power Juicer" infomercials. So, he goes "where dreams go to die" -- that would be Tucson, Ariz. -- and becomes a deluded high school drama teacher and aspiring playwright who adapts movies like "Erin Brockovich" to the stage.

After the school newspaper's ninth-grade theater critic chastises him, Marschz is inspired to take a new approach to writing. He settles on a Shakespearean sequel that asks "What if Hamlet had had a little therapy?" He convinces his reluctant class to put on the resulting opus, a mildly irreverent musical that gets banned by the principal and brings an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer (Amy Poehler) to his rescue.

Meanwhile, his home life is falling apart. After his castrating wife (excellently played by Catherine Keener) takes him to the Prickly Pear Fertility Clinic for a check-up, he starts wearing caftans and other loose garments to keep his sperm "at room temp." Like almost everything else in his life, his earnest attempts to save the marriage fail, and he falls off the wagon into a hard-drinking binge, until the kids at his school pull him out of his despair.

"Hamlet 2" was a hit at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, and it's easy to see why. Coogan has no qualms about acting as goofy as possible and pushing for the humor in uncomfortable situations. The movie is laugh-out-loud hilarious, and the inspired subplot of Elizabeth Shue playing herself as Marschz's acting hero is one of the best parts of the film.

Still, it's a little sloppy and could have used some pruning. This kind of no-holds-barred approach to comedy needs a discriminating eye to come along and clean things up afterward. As it is, writers Pam Brady and Andrew Fleming seem to have gone along with just about every idea they ever brainstormed. A few running jokes, like the recurring confusion over how to pronounce "Marschz," fall flat.

Coogan also can't seem to decide who exactly Marschz is as a character, and the result ends up being a composite of random weirdness and oddball tics. It works most of the time, but once in a while Marschz seems more like a vehicle than a real character.

Brady and Fleming don't leave any topic unmocked in the film, but some parodies start off with a bang and then turn to mush, not fleshed out to their full potential. When Marschz gets an influx of Latino students in his class, he talks big about how he'd like to be an inspirational teacher to them, a la Michelle Pfeiffer in "Dangerous Minds." But just when the film is getting into an inspired parody of the tough-love teacher whipping a room of inner city kids into shape, it pulls back and becomes the very cliche that it had been mocking.

A lot of potentially biting parody gets abandoned by the wayside to make room for the "Let's put on a show!" climax. That's not to say that the ending musical sequence and underdogs-make-good plot isn't thoroughly enjoyable, especially the "Rock Me, Sexy Jesus" dance number, but it doesn't break any new ground.

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HAMLET 2

3 and 1/2 stars

Stars: Steve Coogan, Amy Poehler

Rated: R for language, nudity, drug content

Where: Sundance, Star Cinema, Eastgate, Point

Katjusa Cisar  —  8/29/2008 11:59 am