 "Photo: Courtesy of www.focusfeatures.com")
God bless Steve Coogan. The man has, for the last ten years, slowly crept into the American humor-scape with refreshing cameos ("Night in the Museum") and self parodying British snobs ("Around the World in 80 Days"). This month, Coogan pulls a double feature as both a British man playing a British man parody in the very American "Tropic Thunder" and an American actor who, through a lack of talent, comes off very British.
Coogan plays Dana Marschz (pronounced Marshe's's), who has channeled his childhood daddy issues into an acting career that peaks with a commercial for genital herpes and a memory of Robin Williams giving him a ride to the bus. Now a high school drama coach, Mr. Marshz passes the days as a depressant: Trying to get his wife pregnant, rollerskating and trying to keep his only source of income from being chopped by the school board and Principal Rocker (played by Marshall Bell).
Coogan now lives with his on-again, off-again alcoholic wife Brie (Catherine Keener) and pays the rent with the help of a boarder named Gary (David Arquette), who, at first, seems to just be in the movie to say "Hey, remember David Arquette," before a revelation shows the true meaning of his character.
The movie is like a birdhouse built by fifth graders. You don't expect them to pull it off, but when they do you feel proud and "Hey, who wants to get get ice cream?" But, at the end of the day, it's still not as good as, say, a birdhouse built by a carpenter.
To his credit, Steve Coogan is the birdhouse's glue (this is fifth grade after all) and he plays off the theater drama teacher with both self awareness and parody. No Steve Coogan, no Hamlet 2.
The director and rest of the cast do a remarkable job as well, but the problem is that the movie doesn't defy your expectations for what an inspirational teacher movie is. It's completely satisfied to say, "Remember how great that movie was? Well this is kinda like it."
It takes no liberties in changing the formula for "inspirational teacher" films, instead trying to mock the formula, which is a bad idea because it takes the drama out of the production. You know who's going to quit, who's going to succeed, who's a closet smartee, who's going to get together with who and who's going to redeem themselves.
Just like Napoleon Dynamite's redemption by dance, "Hamlet's big dance number is it's saving grace. It lacks that guy vs. the world feel that Napoleon had, however, which hurts the lasting appeal of the movie. When all is said and done, comedy holds up better in the face of predictability.
And when Marshz gets his rollerskate caught in a railroad track after a big speech and says "I am such a dick!" to himself, you'll be right there with him saying "Yeah, but thank you for being you."
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