I Suppose I Will Settle

Today’s review is for the 1999 “comedy” film: “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” staring Christian Bale as Demetrius, Dominic West as Lysander, Anna Friel as Hermia, Calista Flockhart as Helena, Michelle Pfeiffer as Titania, Rupert Everett as Oberon, David Strathairn as Theseus, Sophie Marceau as Hippolyta, Kevin Kline as Nick Bottom and Stanley Tucci as Puck.  Yeah, a pretty big name cast.
This version of the “renowned” Shakespeare comedic play finds the world of humans crossing over with the realm of magic, fairies, and love potions.  The lovely Hermia is being forced to marry Demetrius, but she truly cares for Lysander.  Her best friend, Helena, is in love with Demetrius.  Both Lysander and Demetrius are in love with Hermia.  Meanwhile, Duke Theseus is supposed to marry Hippolyta in a few days and Oberon and Titania are having a spat over something (I never figured out what).  Last, but not least, there are a group of common workers (men) from the town who are developing a play to perform at the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta.  Bottom is one of the workers and Puck is an impish servant of Oberon.  Puck and Oberon are involved in some magic which leads to the comic misunderstandings in the play.
Background:  Every now and then, I get this urge to become more “cultured”.  This results in me learning a little about “Art” (painting, drawing, poetry, literature or music).  When I recently re-watched (and reviewed) “Renaissance Man“, I was struck I was very much like the “dummies” who had no appreciation for literature – specifically Shakespeare.  Of course, I’m familiar with some of the general outlines of some of the famous plays:  “Romeo and Juliet”, “Hamlet”, etc.  But, I can’t honestly say I’ve ever watched one of the plays all the way through.  The closest I’ve come is having seen “West Side Story” – which is an adaptation of “Romeo & Juliet”.  So, I’ve decided to try to correct this…  And now, it’s chicken or egg time.  Do you read a play and watch a movie or movie and then read.  Normally, I’d go the read then movie route, but I’d heard before the admonition that Shakespeare wrote to be heard (seen), not read.  After all, the play’s the thing…  (“Hamlet“)
Basically, the movie starts off with Theseus being asked to force the marriage of Hermia to Demetrius, but she refuses because she’s in love with Lysander.  A duel is threatened, but Theseus says she has the night to decide between the father’s wishes, joining a convent or death (as per the “old” laws of Athens).  Hermia and Lysander choose to flee into the woods to escape the decision.  Demetrius and Helena follow.  Oberon tasks Puck with using magic to make Demetrius fall in love with Helena, but Puck mis-identifies Lysander as Demetrius.  Meanwhile, Oberon seeks to punish Titania for their spat and he uses magic to have her fall in love with Bottom, who has been turned into a donkey (an “ass”).  Blah, blah, blah…  Everything gets sorted out and all live happily ever after.
So, is this movie any good?  Is it good comedy?  Are the special effects good?  Is it entertaining?  So-so, not really, yes, somewhat.
Is the movie any good?  In fairness to Shakespeare, not really.  It is slightly updated from the 1500s, but not shot as a modern day movie.  It retains the “old English” speaking and there is very little exposition to get you into the “play” before it starts.  In my younger days, I would have looked up the play’s background so I would know what’s going on before viewing.  I didn’t do that this time around.  As per the admonition above, I wanted to “experience” the play as someone coming to it in the original.  It didn’t “work” for me.  I felt like the first time I read “Lord of the Rings” and I had to learn and remember all these strange names for characters and locations.  I’d say it took 10-15 minutes before I felt like I knew who was talking about who.
Is this a good comedy movie?  No, at least not as I understand the genre.  There are some unusual situations in the movie which might have been / supposed to have been funny.  But they weren’t…  Not a laugh.  Not a chuckle.  Not even an amused smile.  I have since gone to Wikipedia to find out what was going on and my reaction was:  “Okay.  I guess I can kind of see where it was supposed to be “funny”.  But it still wasn’t.  Not to me anyway.“
This movie is beautifully shot and the special effects are pretty good considering it’s NOT a F/X movie.  So, that’s a big plus…
Is the movie entertaining?  Yes, but with reservations.  I was mostly entertained.  For me, the entertainment value came from the special effects and seeing well-known actors in “stage” roles – as opposed to the “movie” roles I’ve seen them in.  If you judge “entertaining” by “I have NO idea what’s going to happen”, then it was a definite yes.”  Would I ever pay money to see this as a real, live stage performance?  No.  Would I ever watch the film again?  Probably not.  …Maybe if it was recast and in a different time (either today or back in the 1500 / 1600s).  The movie was $5 to own or $3 to rent.  If I ever do watch it again, I’m ahead.  Otherwise, a slight loss.
Final recommendation:  moderate.  If you want to see any of these actors in an unusual role – maybe higher.  If you want to be able to say you’ve seen this work (it’s a movie, not a play) – just moderate.
Final comment:  I’m reminded of the dialogue in “Pretty Woman” when Richard Gere is describing opera and he says:  “People’s reactions to opera the first time they see it is very dramatic;  they either love it or they hate it.  If they love it, they will always love it.  If they don’t, they may learn to appreciate it, but it will never become part of their soul.”  I guess for this play, I’ll have to settle for appreciation.
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Click here (26 February) to see the posts of prior years.  I started this blog in late 2009.  Daily posting began in late January 2011.  Not all of the days in the early years (2009-2010) will have posts.

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