Critical movie review of Hamlet (2000) directed by Michael Almereyda

HAMLET (2000) A film review by ____________ Rating: * (out of ****) How brave is it for a director to have the late Hamlet's ghost appear in front of a Pepsi vending machine? Or have the lead character telling Ophelia to "Get thee to a nunnery" via a phone answering machine? Or, maybe the boldest move of all, stage the classic "To be or not to be" soliloquy in a Blockbuster video store? In this modern version of Hamlet …

…this film failed to deliver any dramatic effect and instead made the film seem lifeless and plodding. This movie may have had some strengths, but the weaknesses certainly outweighed them. Anyone looking forward to this film will be highly disappointed, and may be so confused and bored that they will never want to read a Shakespearean play again. As Hamlet once said, "To be or not to be", this film was definitely "not to be".