Not again, you say? Wrong!
I marvel at the endless ways that Shakespeare’s Hamlet appears: Olivier, Branagh, Gibson (put to film over 40 times)! This time Ethan Hawke plays Hamlet as a young filmmaker.
Set in modern-day New York City, directed by Michael Almeydra ("the Rocking Horse Winner"), beautifully photographed by John de Borman and tightly edited by Kristina Boden (Carlito’s way, etc.). The cast is excellent from Kyle McLachlan as Claudius (agent Cooper from Twin Peaks), Bill Murray as Polonius, Sam Shepard as the ghost, Julia Stiles as Ophelia, Diane Venora, Liev Shreiber…
You can almost taste the impending tragedy…with powerful and sweeping shots of New York City. Setting the film in the modern-day is a bit risky but makes the film current. I realize that part of the exercise is working exactly from the manuscript of the play, but having to call your father "Sire" in 1999 disrupts the illusion of what could easily has been a seamlessly transparent updating of this classic.
Of note: that most classic passage "to be or not to be" shot while Hamlet is walking through the action section at the Blockbuster video store!

Reviewed by Eric Michel, FilmCities