Steve Coogan ("Tropic Thunder" and "Night at the Museum") is the inept drama teacher in a Tucson high school. The student newspaper does NOT appreciate his efforts to mount a play and the arts department is being closed at the end of the term. His wife, played by Catherine Keener ("40-Year-Old Virgin" and "Capote"), is out of patience and eventually leaves him. The man who takes her away is played by David Arquette ("Two Brothers and a Bride") who has maybe five words of dialogue in the entire movie! To my surprise, Elizabeth Shue ("Soapdish" and "Leaving Las Vegas") is in this thing; her lovely looks and indisputable talent are both totally wasted.
The students, who only took Coogan's class by default, are mostly Hispanic, consequently he has categorized them as illiterate street toughs.
Suffice it to say, to write a sequel to Hamlet, probably the greatest tragedy in the English language, is absurd, because everyone is dead by the final curtain. His goofy idea is to use time travel as his deus ex machina which allows Hamlet to go back and prevent the tragedies. This also allows him to cast Jesus, Albert Einstein and a few other luminaries.
Of course, against all odds, the play is finally mounted in a warehouse to overwhelming success.
Two actors were worthy of note:
- Amy Poehler ("Baby Mama" and "Blades of Glory") is the representative of the ACLU, there to defend our hero's First Amendment rights. She has only a couple of scenes, but she knocks them out of the park.
- Joseph Julian Soria ("Bliss" and "Bondage") is impressive as the Hispanic student who upsets our hero's preconceptions. I hope this helps him find more worthy roles!
My opinion? This movie is for a very specific audience and you probably don't fit... Don't go!
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