"Hamlet 2"
 

Once again, I searched and found no thread on this yet. Which surprises me. I actually read someone's comments somewhere here that said the best parts of the film were in the commercial. Which is ridiculous. I almost didn't go see the movie BECAUSE of the trailor and commercials. It looked just o.k. to me. But man was I wrong. It's the funniest movie I've seen this year. Possibly in several years. The writing is so good, it deserves a screenplay nomination. Steve Coogan definitely deserves a best actor nomination. But probably won't happen because the Oscars tend to ignore comedy. Anyway, I loved loved loved the film. And I'd give it a 10/10.

Big disagree here, mainly because of Steve Coogan. I absolutely loathed his performance and couldn't disassociate that from the material. I chuckled a few times (mainly because of an AWESOME cameo that I won't ruin here), but I mainly just wanted Coogan to get killed off.

If you enjoy (or can stand) Coogan, I bet this would have been pretty good. He just sucked every bit of comedy out of the film to the point where I mainly just wanted it to end. 4/10.

I posted about this in the box office thread (was the one who LOVED the Red Band trailer, HATED the movie.) Sloppy writing, plot threads that go nowhere and are redundant (Keener and Arquette immediately spring to mind) and even the hilarious concept gets wasted....hell, even the Elisabeth Shue bit played better in the trailer IMO... and the way they staged the play and especially Rock Me Sexy Jesus, just never reached the comedic heights that it could have in capable hands. I thought Coogan gave it his all, but the direction and scripting are so lackluster, it's hard to rise above that... easily the biggest disappointment of the year for me and NOWHERE near as funny as Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Tropic Thunder or Pineapple Express.

I sat there in shocked silence for most of the movie...just brutal.

i LOVED this movie.

so many good one-liners

"gravel is the bane of my existence!" had me dying.

cant wait to see it again.

Agree! I have to see it again because there were so many great lines and scenes being thrown at us at such a rapid pace. I laughed the whole movie. And the final scene of them walking down the street in NYC, I was in tears. As was my friend who I saw it with. Mainly at Amy Poehler's lines. But I will definitely buy this one and watch it often. As I do my other comedy favorites ("Election", "Sixteen Candles", "School of Rock", "Shaun" and "Fuzz").

And to mdc3000. I too loved "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" (will be in my year end Top 10 for sure) and "Tropic Thunder" (which I'd give 8/10). But "Hamlet 2" was so much funnier than both of those combined. For me anyway. I haven't see "Pineapple Express" yet. It's up next.

Loved it, easily the funniest movie about theater since Waiting for Guffman. Steve Coogan was like Tobias from Arrested Development with an Anton Chigurh haircut and naturally hilarious. The entire play was a glorious WTF moment.

Best part IMO:

It had some genuinely funny, laugh-out-loud moments but at other times the jokes and one liners just fell flat. No where near as good as Pineapple Express or Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

Granted, the trailers and TV spots make it look terrible (especially the one that makes Amy Poeler look like a lead during SNL), but I highly recommend it. I could have done without the Shue cameo, but lost my breath at times as I was laughing so hard. Much more than I can say for Pineapple Express.

Try to catch some of the lines when they show a CU of the script as Coogan writes alone- I remember something like, "Who's Jack Bauer? We need someone like Jason Bourne!"

Poehler was hilarious though. I was also laughing so hard I missed a lot. And I like Shue in the film. Plus, she still looks damn great!

haha that mango iced tea line is great!

^That is a funny line, I'll give you that... like I said, I loved the red band trailer, but everything outside of it, not so much...

This was by far the funniest movie of the summer. I barely laughed through Tropic Thunder or Step Brothers. Pineapple Express had James Franco, who was awesome, but this movie was the most consistently funny. Also, I'm in love with that hispanic girl who's also in Be Kind Rewind. The best part was that guy's reaction to the opening of the play.

It had some funny parts, but most of it felt disjointed and there was something just a little off about the whole thing, kinda like it was a dress rehearsal of an unfinished script.

the funniest parts are the songs:

"You're As Gay As the Day is Long"
and
"Raped in the Face"

While I agree with you, I thought the movie had enough going for it to overcome its flaws.

Once they actually start to perform the play....god, that whole last act was just unbeatable.

I personally would prefer to be raped in the face than sit through this abomination of celluloid again.

I hope that Andrew Fleming is punched in the cock for taking so many great ideas and shitting them all right away.

There are so many wonderful topics in this film that are ripe for satire. Funding for public schools, specifically for the arts; freedom of speech; racial differences; right-wing conservatives pushing their agenda against everyone else; yet these great ideas just go absolutely nowhere. The concepts are there, but Fleming decides to waste away the time on character arcs and subplots that go nowhere and that the audience could not give two shits about.

For example, Keener and Arquette's roles could've been entirely deleted from the final cut and the film would've been much tighter (and possibly more enjoyable).

The only part I enjoyed about the film were the brief glimpses of the play that we the audience get to see. However, it's too little too late. Under a more talented director and screenwriter, the first act would've been the set-up for the play with the last two acts going all out at the play itself.

There's brief glimpses of genius throughout the film, but they're too fast and quick. Fleming ends up simply being a pussy and plays it safe during the entire run-time. What could've been an entertaining exercise of satire and humiliating everyone just becomes a pedestrian comedy with absolutely going nothing for it.

Easily one of the worst movies of this summer. There's a reason why the movie tanked, it's because it sucks.

Re: "Hamlet 2"
 

i just saw this last night. hesitant about renting at first because of the wild swing of opinions. but g-damn if this wasn't a funny movie. i chuckled throughout. no laugh out loud moments, but just very enjoyable throughout. Steve Coogan really did this well and as mentioned his one liners were well timed and placed.

i think they were trying to go for the "inspirational teacher" movie in the end even though the writers admit to parodying it constantly and i was hoping it would be a little more less parody and maybe a hint of emotion, but it was almost there.

very nice surprise.

Re: "Hamlet 2"
 

Anybody who enjoyed this movie should check out the TV show "Summer Heights High" - The character of Mr. G, the drama teacher who takes his craft way too seriously and the over the top play he puts on trumps Hamlet 2 in all ways IMO. Very similar subject matter (well, the plays are vastly different but both tasteless), so if you liked Hamlet 2, I think you'd get a kick out of that aspect of SHH.

Re: "Hamlet 2"
 

I had heard a lot of good things about this and i thought it was about time that Coogan did something half decent in the US. Boy was i wrong. This movie is SOOOOOOOOOOO bad. The only time i laughed was at the phrase "raped in the face." The rest of the movie i sat stone faced. Coogan's character is plain awful. Its filled with people that you don't care in the least bit about. My advice to anyone is to avoid this movie like the palgue. Coogan needs to do something. After the crapfest that was Saxondale and this he needs to get something back in the pipeline with Partridge.

Also Catherine Keener is possibly the single most annoying actress in movies today. I can't think of a single time she has appeared in a movie where she has done even a bearable job. She just has a such a pompous attitude in all her roles. Each character she has ever played i have hated from the get go. Being John Malckovich is a perfect example. I wish they would stop employing her.

Re: "Hamlet 2"
 

"Summer Heights High" is without a doubt the funniest television series I've seen in ages. It was laugh out loud funny from start to finish. I enjoyed it so much, I bought Chris Lilley's other series "We Can Be Heroes". Which also features Ja'mie. And this character. Great stuff!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cARps...ext=1&index=21

Re: "Hamlet 2"
 

I loved it. Second best comedy of the summer, after Tropic Thunder. Pineapple Express wasn't nearly as good.

Re: "Hamlet 2"
 

I think having seen the awesomeness of Summer Heights High before Hamlet 2, it might have ruined the experience because there was no cohesiveness with Hamlet 2. There were some great moments but they were spread out with amongst a lot of lulls.

Re: "Hamlet 2"
 

Who has a cameo in this movie?

Re: "Hamlet 2"
 

Complete opposite for me. Both Hamlet 2 and TT had wonderful concepts that weren't executed quite well - this is more true for H2 than TT. Although I understand why it wouldn't be a lot of people's cup of tea, PE was a lame concept that was executed wonderfully for a great time at the movies.

Re: "Hamlet 2"
 

You have impecible taste ;) "Tropic Thunder" is one of those films that gets better with each viewing. Before, I said "H2" was the funniest film of the year. But I just recently saw "TT" again, and I changed my mind. It is the funniest. With "H2" a very (very) close second. But both are movies you can watch multiple times. With some many quotable lines. Great year for comedy.

Suprmallet, have you seen "Choke"? It's my third favorite comedy of the year. I'm so bummed Anjelica Houston didn't get a supporting actress nomination.