Hamlet 2

"Oh my god, writing is so hard!"

Dana Marschz (Coogan) is a failed actor, who teaches the fledgling theater program at a high school in Tucson, Arizona.  His plays are plagued by negative reviews, and he only has 2 students: Rand (Astin) and Epiphany (Strole).  At the start of the new school year, his classroom is full because all the other arts classes are cut.  The other students don't care about theater and would rather ridicule than learn.

Dana's life is equally complicated at home.  His wife, Brie (Keener), is focused on having a baby and hates their boarder Gary (Arquette).  As he seeks to motive the class, he starts to write an original play based on Shakespeare's Hamlet.  While the students get onboard with the project, his wife and the community are not impressed... the principal locks them out of the school and various groups call for the show to be cancelled.  Can Dana realize his dream?


When this film I had no desire to see it.  However, it received good word of mouth and some decent reviews, so I decided to give it a try.  The first time I saw the film, I saw the end: the entire Hamlet 2 play.  I laughed more than I expected, so I decided to add it to my Netflix queue to see the entire film.

This film was created as a spoof of the "inspiring teacher" films.  The film manages to succeed to mock genre, and still throw in some surprises.  They wisely chose British actor Steve Coogan for the lead.  At this point in time, Coogan was best known for his TV roles, but a few small turns in American films (including a small but memorable role in Night at the Museum).  This film, along with his role in Tropic Thunder later that year, served as his American breakout roles.  He embodies the part and makes you root for his sad-sack character.

Catherine Keener takes Brie, a one-dimensional and horrid character, and makes you feel for her.  Elizabeth Shue gets to poke fun at her own image, and Hollywood as a whole, and makes you like her even more.  The students are caricatures... but they make it work.

The writing is interesting.  If you enjoy parodies with irreverent / non-PC humor, this is the film for you.  The actually play is bad, but in a "so-bad it's good" kind of way.  And the "Rock Me Sexy Jesus" song is infectious, even now it is stuck in my head.

Is it offensive... yes.  They manage to offend a wide variety of people.  Don't take it too seriously, and you'll probably laugh a few times.

Interesting idea, good stars... grating character / not enough character development.

Hamlet 2 (2008) 92 minutes
Rating: R for language including sexual references, brief nudity and some drug content
Director: Andrew Fleming
Starring: Steve Coogan as Dana Marschz
Catherine Keener as Brie Marschz
Joseph Julian Soria as Octavio
Skylar Astin as Rand Posin
Phoebe Strole as Epiphany Sellers
Melonie Diaz as Ivonne
Arnie Pantoja as Vitamin J
Michael Esparza as Chuy
Natalie Amenula as Yolanda
Marshall Bell as Principal Rocker
David Arquette as Gary