Steve Coogan is a comedy superstar in England.  Of course, so was Benny Hill.  So I don’t know how much stock I’d put in their opinion (Monty Python notwithstanding).    

In Hamlet 2, Steve Coogan plays Dana Marschz, a less-than-talented wannabe actor reduced directing dreadful high school theatrical productions in Tucson, Arizona.  His plays consist primarily of woefully misbegotten adaptations of Hollywood movies such as Erin Brokovich and Mississippi Burning.  The school’s drama club consists of two people.  One day he discovers his drama class is bursting at the seams with Hispanic students forced out of their electives of choice due to budget cuts.  Coogan takes this as his opportunity to inspire his students ala Dangerous Minds or Dead Poets Society. 

After finding out that the drama department will also be the victim of budget cuts, he decides to create an original work art.  His creation is Hamlet 2.  Of course, (spoiler alert) everyone died at the end of Hamlet.  So in Coogan’s version, Hamlet has a time machine that he uses to fix his past mistakes.  And it’s a musical.  Oh, and he travels through time with Jesus.  Once the school gets wind of what he has in mind, Tucson turns into a media circus as his production becomes a lightning rod for both the left and the right.

Coogan gives a star turn in his role.  His performance is imbued with an innocence that’s charming.  His love of theater isn’t elitist as is often seen in movies.  He wants to share his passion, not use it to exclude.  But Coogan doesn’t play Marschz as complete fool.  He’s aware that as much as he loves acting, he’s just not that good.  And his excitement is infectious.

Elisabeth Shue is wonderful as Elisabeth Shue.  She plays herself as an actress disgusted with Hollywood who leaves it all behind to become a nurse.  Coogan brings her to his utterly clueless class a guest speaker. 

Not unlike The Rocker, the second half is better than the first half as all of the groundwork that has been laid in the first 45 minutes starts to pay off.  And once the actual play starts it really fires on all cylinders.  Hamlet 2 (the play) is the most hilariously offensive theatrical production staged in a movie sense Springtime For Hitler in Mel Brooks’ The Producers.  The play features horrible dialogue, atrocious costuming and jaw-droppingly bad songs like Rock Me, Sexy Jesus. 

It’s a dangerous conceit.  The film hinges on whether or not the play is as bad/good as they’ve teasing.  The movie hints at a shockingly awful production throughout and when it comes time to deliver, they’ve got the goods. 

The movie is consistently funny throughout and impressive in that the humor is character driven.  It’s not just prefabricated jokes being shoved into the actors’ mouths regardless of whether it makes sense.  All of the laughs derive from the story and the people.  If there’s any downside, it’s that the sometimes the movie can feel a little “sit-comy”.  But in today’s world were sit-coms include shows like The Office, 30 Rock and Arrested Development, I don’t know that that is as bad a thing as it used to be.

On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being The Producers and 1 being Dracula: Dead And Loving It, Hamlet 2 gets an 8.