Hamlet

// July 25th, 2009 // Recommendations, Reviews

Director: Michael Almereyda
Starring: Ethan Hawke, Bill Murray, Liev Schreiber, Julia Stiles
Rated: R
Justin’s Rating: 4/5

Hamlet is one of the greatest pieces of literature ever written, so it’s quite difficult to translate that into the movie format. However, this one is done quite well and is the a great take on a great story.
Ethan Hawke plays Hamlet and does as good a job as you can expect. Granted he does seem to lack the rage that I always invisioned Hamlet had inside of him, but he does a great job showing his internal struggle with his physical acting. It’s pretty clear that Ethan Hawke understood almost every word that he spoke. He used all of the right emotion and voice inflection. Ethan Hawke is a great actor and proves it well here.
I also love the fact that they modernized the film but still used the original Shakespearean language. Every word in the movie is straight from the original text. Liev Schreiber as Laertes is the other acting highlight of the film. I have been screaming at how good of an actor this guy is for years, and although this movie was still when he was relatively unknown, he seems to be getting more work today. I am starting to get used to being ahead of the rest of the world.
The only thing that hurts this movie is the performances of Julia Stiles as Ophelia and Bill Murray as Polonius. Julia Stiles delivers all of her lines exactly the same. They never have any emotion in them, and she always furrows her brow and looks like she has no idea what she is talking about. And she always stops in the middle of her line for a dramatic pause, and then finishes. Then there is Bill Murray. I think Bill Murray is a terrific actor and anybody that doubts his ability just needs to watch any Wes Anderson Film and/or Lost in Translation. The guy can flat out act, but he should not be in this movie. His line delivery is all over the place in this movie and is often times, the emotion in his voice is not consistent with what he is saying. It is obvious that he had no idea what he was saying. They were just words to him so that’s what they are to the audience. Just words and nothing more.
I first watched this film about eight years ago and I was to young to properly follow the dialogue. I was very glad I re-watched this film and was able to enjoy it for the entertaining and original take on a classic Shakespeare play. I recommend this movie to anybody that wants to watch a Shakespeare play put into action in the modern day world.

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