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Ahhhh,
how I love a good Shakespeare adaptation. That's right,
"Scotland, PA"--believe it or not--is a comic
retelling of William Shakespeare's famous "Macbeth".
Through a group of eccentric and erratic characters and a very
humorous subplot involving the restaurant business, this film
succeeds brilliantly and is extremely humorous.
James
LeGros and Maura Tierney stars as Joe and Pat McBeth, both of
whom work at Duncan's Restaurant, under the management of James
Rebhorn. Let's just say 'something happens' (I don't want
to give anything away) and the restaurant falls into the hands
of Rebhorn's 2 sons. They turn the place over to the
employees and Joe and Pat buy it up, turning it into McBeth's
Diner, where their claim to fame is hamburgers, fries, and, yes,
chicken nuggets. Christopher Walken pops up as Lieutenant
Ernie McDuff and he is quite enjoyable in that role. The
most interesting characters are the 3 hippies, an obvious take
on the 3 witches. Andy Dick, Amy Smart, and Timothy
"Speed" Levitch play the hippies. They help to
guide and direct McBeth through life. And, of course,
there are a few murders. Anyhoo...
This
is the first film from writer/director Billy Morrissette, who
you might remember from his small roles in "Pump Up the
Volume" and "Ghoulies 3". He does a
wonderful job with this film, though I did expect to see Kenneth
Branagh pop up somewhere--he finds his way into every
Shakespeare adaptation. Maura Tierney is delightful is a
more mainstream film for her, and James LeGros really pulls his
weight as the central character.
The
only problem I had with this film was that Walken's character
was so interesting and he wasn't given as much screen time as I
thought he deserved. In a weird way, this film felt like a
combination of "State and Main", "Chocolat",
and "Little Shop of Horrors"--don't ask me to explain.
The characters are interesting and enjoyable, and we actually
end up caring what happens to them. As great as this film
was, it is one that you can wait until video to see.
There's nothing extra special about watching this one on the big
screen. But, be sure you do watch it. Shakespeare
would have wanted it that way.
-- Billy
Ray ( 3 out of 4 pops )
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