Hamlet 2 (R-2008)

"Hamlet 2" is supposed to be a spoof of the "inspirational teacher" movies. Dana Marschz (Steve Coogan) is a drama teacher in a school district in the middle of cut-backs. One day, he finds his class filled with gang-bangers and thugs who showed up only because all of the programs they were interested in were cut. He sees this as an opportunity to "reach these kids" and teach them the magic of drama. Instead of the normal dramatic fare, he decides to write a musical sequel to "Hamlet". Of course, this sequel is full of politically incorrect characters and songs ("Rock me sexy Jesus", "Raped in the face"). The problem lies in that the movie is just not all that funny. It certainly has its moments, but there are just not enough of them to make the extremes in poor taste work. From where I sit, it is perfectly OK to go completely politically incorrect and "shocking", but...it has to be funny. For this movie, that test was just not met often enough. The one character that makes this film almost watchable is Elizabeth Shue as "Elizabeth Shue". Shue has a lot of fun playing "herself" as the school nurse who has given up acting because of her disgust with Hollywood. Overall, I can't say that this was an awful movie, but I can't say it was very good, either.

Grade: D+

Trailer: