Who would have expected that Murray could not only do Shakespeare, but steal the movie from his co-stars? Meanwhile, Schreiber brings much-needed gravity to the film’s proceedings. Murray’s performance is witty, sharp and quite a revelation. The only acting highlights in the film come from the Polonius-Laertes father/son duo, played by Bill Murray and Liev Schreiber, respectively. Kyle MacLachlan portrays the evil Claudius, and although he looks the part of a sleazy corporate raider, MacLachlan once again proves he is incapable of giving a decent performance in a film not directed by David Lynch. (The “Denmark” in this version is now a corporation that produces films.) If only someone like Edward Norton was cast in the lead role, this film could have been watchable. This one is even worse.Įthan Hawke is horribly miscast as Hamlet, spending half the time moping around with an ugly knit cap on his head, staring at film footage of himself on a portable video screen.
Now, in 2000, we have a new version, set in modern day New York. Unfortunately, the result was uneven, overlong, filled with embarrassingly bad special effects sequences, and capped off by a pretentious lead performance by Branagh. In 1996, Kenneth Branagh directed and starred in a lavish four-hour version of “ Hamlet” in an attempt to present the play in its entirety. Only 1990’s superb “Hamlet”, directed by Franco Zeffirelli and starring Mel Gibson, came close to what Olivier accomplished. In the last ten years alone, we’ve had three more versions of Shakespeare’s most famous play, including this one. Sir Lawrence Olivier must be laughing in his grave.Įver since his masterful adaptation of “Hamlet” in 1948 (which won him Oscars for both Best Picture and Best Actor), numerous filmmakers have tried to reach the heights of Olivier’s classic film version.
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