There is so much to say about this adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I could fill papers upon papers on the play and the film version. I could give a review on each actor, all of them giving a memorable performance (each named character that is), or of what was cut from the play text and what was added, or how the production design and how it was used in the scenes so well. I could give a detailed description of the fantastic way they use the Pyramus and Thisbe play at the end of the film. I could describe in detail how much more emphasis was given to Bottom and how the lovers and Puck were under used. I could give all of this and more, but I am not going to go too much into detail, otherwise this review would be too long. Instead, here are the Sparknotes versions of the reasons to see and avoid the film, and I hope the reasons to see the film outweigh the reasons to not see it.
Why you should see it:
1. The actors are so amazing. It is not just the sexy Michelle Pfeiffer, the stellar Kevin Kline who fills most of the film with his amazing stage presents, the underused Rupert Everett as the stunning King Oberon, or the spectacular Stanley Tucci as Robin Goodfellow. It is not just these lead credited actors who do an amazing job. The smaller performances of David Strathairn (The Bourne Ultimatum) and Sophie Marceau (Braveheart) as Theseus and Hippolyta are quite capturing of the arguable lovers. They are quite good. Batman himself, Christian Bale, and the underappreciated actor, Dominic West (John Carter) also appears in this film. I love them both. And not only these people, but also Pushing Daisies leading lady (whom I am in love with), Anna Friel, and Harrison Ford’s wife Calista Flockhart, are also have great chemistry. These four actors who play the four lovers are brilliant whenever they are together. One other actor was brilliant and is not often given his due is the, also underappreciated actor, Sam Rockwell, who plays the actor who plays Thisbe in the end. (And then there is the very brief appearance by King Theoden from The Lord of the Rings (Bernard Hill).)
2. The second reason why one should watch this film is because of the ending. The play that the poor players perform in the end in front of the three married couples is fantastically portrayed. Yes, like the rest of the film, the director/writer Michael Hoffman did add some lines here and there, but it was to better the comedic timing of Kevin Kline and the rest of the actors. This alone is worth watching the film. It isn’t on youtube, I looked, so watch the movie to see it.
3. The sets for this film are so much fun. It is like a gigantic theatre set, but on a bigger scale. Some of these sets, the ones in the woods especially, look almost like they can be performed in a large venue such as Gammage. It is fun to see the bedchamber of Titania or to see the mud pit scene with all four lovers fighting over each other. It is just pure entertainment.
Why you shouldn’t see it:
1. A lot of the play text is cut, and a small subplot is added (Bottom has a wife that he is hiding from). Several lines here and there added to give a little more depth, but is not pure Shakespeare (but then again what is?) Also, a lot is changed and moved around. What would have been a long continuous scene in the play text is cut halfway, moves to a new scene, and then brought back to a new position in the film. If you are looking for an exact read through of the play text, with only deletions from the text and everything else there, you will be disappointed.
2. Many of the plots, such as Oberon and the four lovers, take a side-show story line rather than a major one. It is Kevin Kline’s story and his small affair with the steamy Pfeiffer (God, she looks good!) takes center stage. Personally, I think it is a wonderful idea, even though the other stories were not really trimmed that much. It is just saddening to see Tucci and Everett being underused so much. A longer cut would have been fun to see, instead of a measly two hours. Two hours is good for the theatre, but for home, I would love to see more.
This review is one of my longest, so I will stop here, but I think that what Michael Hoffman did right dwarfs what he did wrong. He hits adapted the play extremely well, made it fun, made it his own, and made it appealing to a larger general audience than just to independent movie goers. With some careful casting decisions, some excellent editing choices, fun production ideas, and the ending of the film I think really make this adaptation really good.
*****
*A Note on the Title: It was late at night when I watched this starting my spring break.
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