Dir. Andrew Fleming
Writ. Pam Brady, Andrew Fleming
Act. Peter Coogan, Elisabeth Shue, Cathaleen Keener

This movie could have been SO much better if it simply didn’t try to be funny.

A talent-less and failed actor named Dana, played by Steve Coogan (Tropic Thunder), is stuck in Tucson, Ariz. as a high school drama teacher, barely working for gas money. His class of usually two kids is suddenly overloaded with others when other electives are no longer available. Soon, Dana learns drama is getting shut down, and to save the program, he decides to write a musical sequel to Shakespeare’s Hamlet for the kids to perform.

However, with numerous moments of sex, depravity and the soiling of religious and social icons, the town becomes divided between those who support the arts no matter what, and those who have simply no tolerance for such things.

The worst thing about this movie is that is attempted to be a comedy. It actually wasn’t that funny. Every little sight gag you saw in the trailer was the film’s EVERY attempt to be funny. What you DON’T see in the trailer is a some-what engaging story about a man’s love for the performing arts but his lack of talent keeps him struggling to please audiences and his own artistic hunger.

Coogan was surprisingly good at the parts of the movie that wasn’t funny. The outlandish responses to any conflict Dana and his program received was unnecessary, but his more toned down and thoughtful moments were during problems with his wife, played by Katherine Keener (40-Year-Old Virgin), his drinking issues and his general cherubic demeanor.

The comedy in this movie was stupid. I think I laughed once. Director Andrew Flemming (Nancy Drew) ruin something that could have been a solid dramedy for the year.

The film is also anti-climatic. As the class is rehearsing and re-writing Hamlet 2, the play within the movie, we hear about sex scenes between Satan and the U.S. President. We hear about there being nudity, on-stage pornography and the like.

When we finally get to see the play, it has very little to be offended about. There was an opening number about being raped in the face, which was tame. The musical number Rock Me Sexy Jesus was very considerable to something you would see in an Andrew Llyod Weber musical. I’ve seen more offensive numbers in Jesus Christ Superstar and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Rock Me Sexy Jesus was basically throwing Jesus in the middle of Grease. It wasn’t funny, but it wasn’t offensive. It was just there.

We saw NO allusion to nudity, pornography, Satan or much more of Jesus. It was simply a play about Hamlet forgiving his father, going back in time and saving all the characters who died in Hamlet. It was simply in bad taste but not offensive as it sounded throughout the movie. It just didn’t deliver.

The subplot between Dana and his wife was a great addition to accompany a somewhat hollow struggle to get Hamlet 2 produced. The film actually has a lot to say which makes it worth seeing if you’re at all curious, but don’t expect a rip-roaring irreverent comedy. It is simply interesting.

Overall, I’ll say I was surprised the movie had as much potential as it did. But, maybe a more writing and directing team could have made this movie as good as it could be. As it stands, it could be skipped, and it wouldn’t be a travesty.

Benn - Where's the Humanity?