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| Directed by Michael Hoffman; Starring Kevin Klein, Michelle Pfeiffer, Rupert Everett, Stanley Tucci, Calista Flockhart, Anna Friel, Dominic West, Christian Bale, David Strathairn, Sophie Marceau, and John Sessions |
First of all, I guess I should state that I had the predisposition of disliking the Shakespeare play that this film is based on. First I saw the 1930s James Cagney version, which, beyond some interesting visuals, was nothing special in my opinion. Then I read it for high school English, finding it an easy read, but still thoroughly uninteresting. Now I see trailers for a new film version. The trailers make the film seem whimsical and fun. If only the film had in fact delivered that instead of a dreadfully boring two hours.
The story is nice, but far from one of Shakespeare’s masterworks (i.e. Hamlet; for Shakespearean comedies I actually like The Taming of the Shrew and Much Ado About Nothing). I have enjoyed the subplot of the play and films where the acting group is trying to perform just right for those that could very easily have them killed. The two pairs of lovers, though, have always seemed to keep the play from the true star in my opinion, Bottom (Kline in this, Cagney in the 1930s). For those unacquainted with the story, it is about four couples. Couple number one is Hermia (Friel) and Lysander (West), who cannot marry because Hermia’s father wants her in the arms of Demetrius (Bale). That brings me to Demetrius’ follower Helena (Flockhart). Her love for him is not returned due to his for Hermia. Then there is that of Bottom and Titania (Pfeiffer), the Queen of the Fairies tricked into loving Bottom in a game of spite by the King of the Fairies Oberon (Everett) and his assistant Puck (Tucci). The final couple is Theseus, Duke of Athens (Strathairn), and his betrothed Hippolyta (Marceau). They really do little for the story beyond making a few choices. When asked to make Demetrius fall for Helena by Oberon, Puck accidentally does the trick to Lysander and he falls away from Hermia and for Helena. Upon noticing this mistake, the trick is then played on Demetrius leaving Helena with two fighting suitors, while Hermia is left alone.
The look of the film is nice as the set design and the feel work well for the story. The biggest problem is that the film takes little effort in pacing itself well. The two hours spent on the film seems to take forever. There were some bright spots in the film though. While Bale, Flockhart, Friel, and West all falter miserably, Tucci, Everett, Pfeiffer, and Kline are on the top of their forms. It has some nice set pieces and a look that would shame Fosse, but all in all A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a lost cause.
