Hamlet 2 (**3/4)

Well; the first thing about this R-rated comedy is that it’s quite silly, as silly as, say, the concept of writing a sequel to Hamlet (in which almost everyone dies). That’s what an odd Tuscon drama teacher resorts to when the school board votes to cut off funding for his program. He also finds himself with an unexpected influx of new, rowdy students to go along with the two faithful stereotypical nerdy types who came back from the year before. So everything is set up for a certain sort of underdog-triumphing-with-the-help-of-tough-but-tender-high-schoolers sort of comedy. And it is, but within that framework is some goofy, possibly amusing stuff, and a pretty fine job of wringing out all the humor by Steve Coogan, who tranforms from a nutty nebbish to just a nut. (Catherine Keener is also funny as his equally off-kilter wife.)

Flustered by the possible funding cutoff, dealing with the new students, and bad reviews of last year’s Erin Brockovich adaptation by the school’s pint-sized drama critic, the teacher pours his untalented heart into a magnum opus that promises to offend standards of both taste and decency, in which a time-traveling prince, Hillary Clinton, and a bare-chested Jesus Christ somehow come together. There’s some typical slapstick humor, like the running gag about one student who keeps getting hit in the head. But a lot of the movie is just weirdness that seemed to have different parts of the audience laughing at different bits, whether it was the group singing a ditty about being “raped in the face” or the teacher wearing a loose-fitting caftan as some sort of inspiration to the students. We never exactly find out why Jesus and the Danish prince inhabit the same play, although they both have father issues, but this, the climax of the movie, seems entertaining enough to sell the premise. The songs, including centerpiece “Rock Me Sexy Jesus,” are catchy, and the men’s choir rendition of Elton John’s “Someone Saved My Life Tonight” is genuinely lovely. Like the musical within the movie, Hamlet 2 isn’t exactly “good,” and it flags in the middle, but it may entertain if you’re not looking for anything sophisticated.

IMDB link

viewed at Ritz East and reviewed 9/10/08