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Overall Rating
 Awesome: 11.94%
Worth A Look: 29.85%
Average: 23.88%
Pretty Bad: 20.9%
Total Crap: 13.43%
5 reviews, 37 user ratings
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| Midsummer Night's Dream, A (1999) |
by jules
"Shakespeare goes sitcom"

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The only reason this movie didn't suck is because it couldn't possibly ruin one of the best scripts ever written. But they made a good try at it.When I saw previews for this film last year I thought "this is my favourite Shakespeare piece, please don't let them fuck it up".
Well, they didn't quite fuck it up, but they tried.
This movie is entertaining because the original script is clever and fun, but the film added nothing to the genius of Shakespear, merely trivialized and perverted it.
The casting was HORRIBLE, not one of the actors felt in place, even Kline. Michelle Pfeifer was so bad I had to close my eyes and go "lalalala" until her scenes were over. Cute lady yes, but shakespearean actress she is not.
And cod almighty, Tucci as Puck? Didn't work for one second.
The production was weak too, boring sets, and the costumes were really lame. I expected a tall thin blue skinned Oberon dressed in fine silks and vines and instead we got a frat boy in a toga. Even Titania's costumes were awful. And what's with all the fat sprites?
The setting was dumb. The makers of this film tried to cash in on the "Shakespeare set in non-elizabethean setting" trend, but what they picked was rediculous. First off, what was it with all the italian opera and english hunting dogs in athens? And come on, the only way that a non-elizabethean setting works is if the story can be believable in the new setting. Richard III did this beautifully, even Romeo and Juliet was a perfect match, but to have a death penalty for marrying against your father's wishes in 19th century england, the suspense of disbelief gets suspended... They should have set it in turkey, or pre-constantinople rome, or damn it, in greece like it was supposed to be...
What else, the camera work was pretty bad, some scenes were decidedly out of focus. Midsummer's Night should have been a colorful, magical film, but it was kinda dreary and, well, cheap.
Finally, that farce at the end (the play within a play which in the original script was funny enough) was far too long, and completely redesigned for stupid movie goers who wanted to see Water Boy and accidently stumbled into a Shakespear movie.I changed my mind, they did fuck it up.
del.icio.us
link directly to this review at http://efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=1572&reviewer=57 originally posted: 06/07/99 18:06:52
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USA 14-May-1999 (PG-13)
UK N/A
Australia 20-May-1999 (M)
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