Eye Candy #244 - "Hamlet 2"

Hamlet 2: A “Netflix recommendation” title (something I’m beginning to dread more and more as they seem more miss than hit), this film is a very broad comedy about a fairly inept high school drama teacher who, emboldened by watching movies about high school teachers changing the lives of their students like “Dangerous Minds” and “Mr. Holland‘s Opus“, decides to lead his mismatched bunch of students in a play to help change their lives for the better.  However, he only writes plays based on pre-existing films.  So he takes it upon himself to veer from his usual formula and write “Hamlet 2”, which combines elements of Hamlet, time travel, Jesus Christ, Star Wars, Broadway musicals.  Oh, and Flashdance, all while tackling the weighty issues of theater such as one man’s play is another man’s sacrilege.  AND on top of all that, the school has decided that the drama department has to go.  Steve Coogan, most recently seen as the director who steps on a land-mine in “Tropic Thunder”, is our theatre teacher, with Elizabeth Shue and Amy Poehler, amongst others in support.  The true laughs in the film are few and far between.  In fact, Shue has all the best lines playing herself, Elizabeth Shue.  Sadly, she’s not in enough of it to carry the picture.  I also have an extremely low Steve Coogan threshold and have a hard time watching in just about anything. Woodchuck sez, “Skip it.”