Lazy Sunday Afternoon movie review: Hamlet 2

Back before Master 5 was born, DP and I used to have a breakfast show on the uni radio station. Every Friday morning, shortly before we'd sign off, we did a dvd review. It was a weekly thing, and back on my old blog, I used to do the same thing. But we had a housemate then, who hired a lot of movies, or could be counted on to at least watch a lot of movies, so there was always something to review. I hadn't actually rented anything for 3 months, not since school started, so this is unlikely to be a regularly feature here.

But the movie I'm going to review is in such bad taste, and so underhyped that I feel I must do my bit for it's PR. When I tell you that it was co-written by one of the writers from South Park (Pam Brady) and produced by the people who did Little Miss Sunshine, you might have an idea where I'm going with this.

A failed actor-turned-drama-teacher, Dana Marschz, with a failing marriage and uninspired class learns that the school, who only pays him gas money, is dropping the drama program due to budget cuts. Desperate to state a department-saving show, despite every previous show being a failure. After the principal gets a copy of Marschz' self-written script of Hamlet 2, the play is banned from school property. The students rise up to help, and the show goes on.

The plot is dubious, the humour in very poor taste, racism, blasphemy, and prejudice abound. The first half of the movie left me groaning, and wondering if I should just turn the dvd player off. But as the plot gathers speed, and all the development and set up is out of the way, the characters really get a chance to shine. The stand out moment of the movie is the musical number "Rock Me, Sexy Jesus" from the play.

Did this movie make me cringe? Most definitely. But did it make me laugh? Yes, very much so. Am I ashamed to say I liked it? Well, kinda, but not so much I didn't want to share it with you all.


Apologies for the low volume at the start... this was the best copy I could find.