Spidersecu Don't Believe the Hype

ScoobyMint Disappointment for a huge fan!

AshUnow This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Suman Roberson It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

Tweekums Set in the Italian town of Monte Athens during the nineteenth century this Shakespearean comedy follows a group of young lovers. Hermia and Lysander are very much in love but her father has forbidden then from marrying as he has promised her hand to Demetrius. Meanwhile Helena loves Demetrius but he doesn't love her. Lysander and Hermia escape to the nearby woods but are pursued by Demetrius who is in turn followed by Helena. Also present in the woods are a group of actors looking for somewhere quiet to rehearse. Unknown to any of them the wood is part of the fairy realm and they soon find themselves subject to all sorts of mischief as Oberon, king of the fairies, has his servant Puck sprinkle a magic love potion that causes some of the four lovers to change who they love; those unaffected are understandable rather perturbed. Puck also affects one of the actors, Bottom the Weaver, who is turned into a donkey; and Titania, the queen of the fairies, who falls in love with Bottom.This adaption of Shakespeare's play is a lot of fun with its expected romantic confusions and generally silliness. The transatlantic cast, including actors from Britain and the United States, does a fine job bringing their characters to life. These include Dominic West and Anna Friel as Lysander and Hermia; Calista Flockhart and Christian Bale as Helena and Demetrius; Kevin Kline as Bottom and Rupert Everett, Michelle Pfeiffer and Stanley Tucci as Oberon, Titania and Puck. The story may be over four hundred years old but it still provides plenty of laughs... especially during the final scene when we finally see the actors' hilariously bad production. It is also surprisingly sexy for a PG rated film... at one point we even have Hermia and Helena wrestling in a muddy pond! Overall this is a lot of fun; don't be put off by the Shakespearian English it is easy to understand... certainly easier than some slang used in 'modern' films!

mstoll-39568 "A Midsummer Night's Dream" has many good and bad aspects to the film. While we criticized the acting of some characters, we adored general appearance of the set, although some parts could have been improved. In our opinion, some of the acting (e.g. Nick Bottom's) was a little unbelievable and silly at some points in the movie. This could be due to the fact that we thought Kevin Kline didn't quite fit the role. We didn't enjoy Nick Bottom's crew of actors as well, because - like Kevin Kline - their acting wasn't very believable either. When they were supposed to cry it sounded a lot like laughing to us. Lysander (Dominic West) and Demetrius (Christian Bale) on the other hand did a great acting job. Their expressions were very genuine and their acting believable. While Dominic West fit the role, Christian Bale would've fit the role of a "London Street Boy" more. The actors playing Titania and Oberon were fine but they did not live up to our expectations. We did not think that Oberon should have looked as young as he did in the movie. As we read the book we imagined Oberon to be older, have strands of grey hair and be a little bit brauder. Despite all those flaws he did have some scenes where he did a great job at expressing the characters feelings, for example when he freed Titania from Pucks spell. Despite the part where Titania got very overdramatic, she also lived up to our expectations. Her makeup and the costume was designed very well, the flowers in her hair and the flowy white dress really portrayed her very well. We believe that the Fairies and their aspects were well portrayed but their visual aspects were not always as imagined. For example we were not so happy with the fact that Puck had three horns. We believe though there was still much effort put into the costumes. The fairies' costumes were well designed. Puck was very good at expressing his character's feelings. He was very humorous and joyful during his scenes. Puck was very well acted by Stanley Tucci. He had a very fantasy-style look for his character. All in all the Fairies were well portrayed. In the movie, Helena and Hermia were well portrayed as good friends, but Helena wasn't half as crazed as she was in the book. The friendship between the two could've been portrayed a little bit more stronger. In the book, they are described as life-time friends, yet in the movie they just seem to be good friends. The script for Hermia and Helena was directly taken out of the book making their roles understandable in the movie. Acting wise, it was nothing special and nothing terrible. The music was well chosen and the costumes were lovingly designed. The movie in general was entertaining. Also, the movie had a good early modern language. Watching the movie, that follows the main storyline and the plot of the book, makes it a bit more modern, than reading the book. Now to the settings: The forest is a dark and mystical place where fairies are at home. The vegetation is dark and sets the mood for the events in the forest. There are a couple paths leading through the forest, but otherwise it is mostly untamed. The lair of the fairies is colorful and bright, a place of merriment and joy. The vine-covered floating bed contraption of Titania lets the skills of the fairies shine. After their ordeal in the forest, the main characters return to the castle, a stone and mortar building of great magnificence. The sculptures contribute to the elegance and glory of the palace and help accurately portray the way it might have been. Though the castle was romantic and realistic, the set seemed fake in the forest. Some parts were quite obviously not real, which is a disappointment because it otherwise could have been taken as a real forest. Some props were also seemed a bit cheap, yet this can be overlooked because of the overall good impression. Overall, the setting and set is well thought through. Every part seems to have been created with care and thought and creates a well put together impression. All in all the movie was a pretty decent portraying of this Shakespeare play.

surangaf This is a worthy attempt at adapting Shakespeare, but unfortunately it fails. For the record, i have no problem with setting in late 19th century, or the nudity; Shakespeare would have used mud wrestling if allowed. Failing is due to other reasons.Movie takes itself far too seriously, for a play that is extremely funny that is fatal. In Shakespeare, comedy comes from absurdity, changeability, and arbitrariness, of love, even when it is intense and passionate. Love and Reason do not indeed keep company. But screenplay, instead of laughing at absurdity, presets tragedy, and almost forgets to laugh. Play within play results in tears, and not from laughter. Bottom at the end gets a lovers' farewell from Titania, instead of loathing disgust she expresses in text.Generally actors are well cast, and give competent performances. Problem with Kevin Kline's Bottom is the screenplay which underplay the absurd juxtaposition of Bottom with Titania, not him. Pfeiffer, who has proved she can act in other movies, fails to convince here as fairy queen. Even though she she looks great for the part, we see her reading lines and acting. Calista Flockhart does well as Helena.Italian town sets and costumes are excellent but wood looks fake. Bicycle obsession does not contribute anything.

jwv-823-79715 The acting in general was not very convincing, especially not as is required for a good Shakespearean rendition. Most lines are uttered without real feeling and with clichéd emotion, facial expression and gesture. Calista Flockhart (Helena), Sam Rockwell (Francis Flute; especially in the play-in-the-play) and Kevin Kline (Bottom) were best, my favourite being Calista Flockhart who brings Helena's emotions convincingly with great authenticity. I have read that "this was Kevin Kline's play", but I disagree because the character of Bottom has a lot of potential as a funny Shakespearean stereotype (but this was probably acted out under the director's guidance). Only in the end did he really show himself in the play-in-the-play. Michelle Pfeiffer (Titania) and especially Rupert Everett (Oberon) show us that the failing fairies' relationship was not only due to adultery and jealousy, but also because of the lack of emotional depth in their relationship - which speaks out of their performance. The biggest disappointment is that I don't see the Shakespearean stereotypes played out on screen, Bottom is supposed to be the idiot with a carpe diem lifestyle, but he is portrayed too gravely, which stifles a lot of potential humorous approaches to the character. Puck also didn't come to life as the witty and mischievous knave he is. I also feel that the director could have done more with the mute characters on screen, their short scenes are there to set a mood, but they seem superfluous.The soundtrack was nothing spectacular and the sound-effects and background noises were cheap clichés we see everywhere nowadays (cf. forest background sounds). Most of the actors' voice-acting was also uninspired, and does not do homage to the verbal virtuosity of Shakespeare's play.I sincerely wonder whether the director knows of the potential comedy that lurks in the play, because I did not have the feeling that I was watching a comedy at all. The play-in-a-play was in it's 10-minute totality more funny than the whole 100 preceding minutes. There were no genuinely funny situations, and the movie was absolutely not original in creating these, Instead, it relied too much on the inherent comedy of the incompatibility of some characters and emotions in certain situations, and so took a too passive and unoriginal approach. The movie lets a lot of very obvious occasions of potential funny situations slip by, even the potential very comic situation with the chink in the wall slip (hint: "I kiss the wall's hole, not your lips at all"). The only scene that comes closest to a comic situation is when Helena runs away from a chasing Demetrius and Lysander, but even this scene was more dramatic than funny. Bottom's lying with Titania too was also disappointing.