Tucson dissed in 'Hamlet 2'
A very palpable hit
By Phil Villarreal
Pvillarreal@azstarnet.com
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 08.21.2008
A comedy about a high school drama teacher who makes a controversial sequel to Shakespeare's masterpiece, "Hamlet 2" works overtime to offend just about everyone — especially Tucsonans.
The comedy is as anti-Tucson as "Star Wars" was anti-Darth Vader.
It starts with a scene that introduces the city as "the place dreams go to die" and ends with the line "You're going to have a magical life. No matter where you go, it will always be better than Tucson."
Set in Tucson but shot in Albuquerque, the movie depicts the city as a lowly, slum-ridden burg with a liquor store on every corner and impoverished schools. In other words, they get it exactly right.
I kid — we all know the liquor stores are on every third corner.
It's tough not to get caught up in the exuberant Tucson-bashing fun the movie cheerleads, in a manner as exaggerated and innocent as playground kids trading "yo momma" barbs.
Director Andrew Fleming ("The Craft," "Dick") goes out of his way to cram the movie with garishly unsavory humor. One of the most audacious examples of bad taste involves a not-so- funny song called "Rock Me Sexy Jesus."
The vast majority of the time, however, the movie hammers the funnybone with pinpoint accuracy. Steve Coogan plays Dana, a failed actor who's teaching drama at something called East Mesa High School. A veteran of infomercials, herpes medication commercials and late-night TV, Dana has been reduced to directing high school adaptations of movies.
After a particularly awful staging of "Erin Brockovich," Dana tracks down the 14-year-old critic who trashed it in the school paper and begs the kid for artistic advice.
Flash forward to next semester, and Dana, who gets around by roller skating, is overjoyed when his class is suddenly full. His enthusiasm dampens, however, when the kids tell him most other electives have been shut down due to financial problems. Even worse, the drama department is next on the chopping block.
To save the program, Dana writes his magnum opus: a sequel to "Hamlet" in which the melancholy Dane undergoes therapy, gets ahold of a time machine and sets to rescuing the other characters.
The teacher is thrilled when his favorite actress, Elisabeth Shue, agrees to participate. The Academy Award-nominated Shue, playing herself (or some pathetic version of herself), has hit the skids and now works as a nurse in Tucson.
The principal tries to shut down the play, but Dana presses on, despite the indifference and insults from his trash-talking wife (Catherine Keener). Eventually the ACLU gets involved and the play starts earning media buzz.
"Hamlet 2" thrives on wry observations, stinging humor and ironic depictions of racism and sexism. Stereotypes abound, but they're handled well, twisted inside out for clever laughs. One example: Dana tries to stop his lead actor from quitting by visiting his parents, wrongly assuming he's a gangster from the ghetto because he's Hispanic.
The movie will be too much for some people, and will doubtlessly spur walkouts. You get the feeling that's exactly what Fleming was going for, and that he'd be disappointed if his garish shenanigans didn't send at least a few people storming away.
Some of the jokes flop, but most sing. I can see a cult following developing around the offbeat, vulgar movie in the manner of "Clerks," but that and a strong showing at Sundance don't guarantee financial success, especially in the city the film tears apart.
We'll see in the coming weeks whether the film can thrive in the place dreams go to die.
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