I wouldn't have thought it possible, but I actually yawned during the latest film version of this great Shakespeare comedy--and not just once either--which is hard to believe given the cast that's been lined up to play the Bard. Michelle Pfeiffer and Rupert Everett as Titania and Oberon, Stanley Tucci as Puck, Calista Flockhart as the girl whom no one loves (at first), and Kevin Kline as Bottom should have guaranteed a speedy, thigh-slapping two hours. Unfortunately, director Michael Hoffman (who also wrote the screenplay) has inexplicably chosen to turn this wonderful farce into a slow and languid romance.
The movie starts promisingly, as on-screen titles alert us that the play has been transferred to 19th century Italy, where "necklines are high and parents are rigid." But the laughs are slow in coming after that. I suspect that many readers will be familiar with this oft-performed play and, if you're not, get out your copy of Shakespeare and read it; for even on the page it's truly delightful. That the film isn't is most disappointing.
Part of the problem is that A Midsummer Night's Dream is just better on the stage than on the screen. One of the joys of the play is watching sane people react to the bizarre actions of those under the influence of fairies. In a film, though, those expressions can only be shown in reaction shots, which tend to slow the movie down. Also, in the play the characters are always on the stage, reminding us of the lunacy that has transpired and providing moments of laughter even as other farcical events transpire. In this version, however, each set of characters is on-screen for fifteen minutes at a time and then off-screen for as long as 20-25. After a while, you forget that the fairy queen is making out with an ass as the four lovers chase each other through the wood.
Not all of the blame can be heaped on the difficulty in changing genres. The opening act in Shakespeare is a breezy introduction to the characters at hand and their situations. On screen this introduction seems to take forever as the camera slowly glides over the beautiful countryside and Kevin Kline hams it up as Bottom. We're well into the movie before Puck even makes his entrance. Furthermore, Hoffman is more interested in showing off his beautiful cast's fabulous bodies in various stages of undress (though, with the exception of the fairies, always teasingly draped in fabric) than moving the action along.
The worst offense of all, though, is the decision to make Bottom a somewhat thoughtful romantic rather than the great buffoon he is on the page. And this when Bottom is played by Kevin Kline, one of the better comic screen actors working today. Even the stage play that closes out the drama is toned down, though nothing can stop the laughter caused by Wall, Lion, and Moon.
Not all is rotten in Italy. Stanley Tucci is wonderful as Puck, even if his role is given short shrift, and I thought Calista Flockhart had great comic timing, though others in the audience seemed to disagree. And the night lighting is lush and romantic, even if the set is clearly built in a studio somewhere.
In the end, though, the movie falls flat from its leisurely and overly romantic pace. "If we shadows have offended/Think but this, and all is mended,/That you have but slumbered here." Almost, Puck, almost.
J. Robert Parks
