![\"hamlet2_2\"](\"http:\/\/www.regrettablesincerity.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/06\/hamlet2_2-200x300.jpg\" "\\"hamlet2_2\\"")
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There are few things more obnoxious than a satire that keeps nudging you to remind you it\u2019s only kidding. Hamlet 2<\/em>, which is like if Waiting For Guffman <\/em>were played as a straight comedy instead of as a documentary, and made sure to remove anything remotely funny, panders and plays it safe to the point of absurdity. If the script had been written as a parody of pseudo-outrageous lazy satires, it might have worked, as opposed to the way it plays now, where all of the sources it parodies are pointed out (“<\/em>This isn’t Dangerous Minds<\/em>,” “Have you guys seen Dead Poets Society?”<\/em>) to make sure the younger target audience has any clue what\u2019s being mocked.<\/p>\n
![\"Hamlet](\"http:\/\/www.regrettablesincerity.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/06\/hamlet2-300x219.jpg\" "\\"Hamlet")
Coming from Mr. Middling, director Andrew Fleming, this isn\u2019t much of a surprise, he\u2019s always been a spoonfeeder of whatever obvious point he wants to get across, from Threesome<\/em> to Dick <\/em>to his pointless remake of The In-Laws<\/em> all the way to Hamlet 2<\/em>. There isn\u2019t a joke he can\u2019t bludgeon, like an infant trying to relay a George Carlin routine. Catherine Keener, as Coogan\u2019s wife, playing her standard shrew role, seems to have the best idea by trying her damndest to get out of scenes as quickly as possible, simply by being unpleasant. Coogan\u2019s character has been written to either be completely oblivious or totally self-aware depending on the needs of the scene, and his interaction with Keener straddles both, switching from line to line. Even the \u201cshocking\u201d satire of religious conservatism (a tame musical sequence taking Grease<\/em>, mixing it with Jesus Christ, Superstar <\/em>and turning it into Rock Me Sexy Jesus<\/em>) has those who are supposed to be offended, either change their minds on a dime, or the script softens the blow by explaining that the message is actually kind of friendly and up-with-people, so there\u2019s nothing to be frightened of.<\/p>\n![\"hamlet2pic2\"](\"http:\/\/www.regrettablesincerity.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/06\/hamlet2pic2-300x200.jpg\" "\\"hamlet2pic2\\"")
This terrified tone makes even the simplest gags unclear as to their intention. When the so-called \u201ctough\u201d students who join Coogan\u2019s class simply to fill a requirement are playing their boomboxes loudly and shouting at the top of their lungs at each other, is it a joke that they\u2019re listening to Everlast\u2019s relatively wimpy song What It\u2019s Like<\/em>? Is the idea that they\u2019re not so tough, at least not the Hispanic gang members everyone fears, because they listen to what basically amounts to a folk song sung with a voice drenched in lung cancer? Or were those who chose the music so out-of-touch that they thought a 1998 pop hit from a former white rapper would be something that gang bangers would listen to? Maybe they can remake one of their clear favorites, Dangerous Minds<\/em>, but instead of Coolio songs, the gang members could be listening to the latest U2 album. Maybe the members of Coldplay could play the gang bangers?<\/p>\n![\"hamlet-2_584\"](\"http:\/\/www.regrettablesincerity.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/06\/hamlet-2_584-300x169.jpg\" "\\"hamlet-2_584\\"")
P.S. Waiting For Guffman <\/em>is such a blueprint for Hamlet 2<\/em> that they even steal the idea of inappropriately adapting recent Hollywood blockbusters for high school stages, such as, in this case, Erin Brockovich<\/em>, which isn\u2019t even that funny, not even close to Max Fischer\u2019s Serpico <\/em>adaptation in Rushmore <\/em>or Corky St. Clair\u2019s small local theater version of Backdraft<\/em> in Waiting For Guffman<\/em>.<\/p>\n