Ray-81

You can't exactly BLAME Kenneth Branagh for not being content to only direct what is arguably Shakespeare's best drama. He is an actor, after all, and a good one. His interpretation of Hamlet, however, is, well, not very involving; we know he wants to be king and resents his uncle, but not much else. He's miles ahead of Mel Gibson's "normal" Hamlet, though. Gibson made a "Hamlet" for everyone who went to see "Hamlet" for the ACTION without all that TALK to spoil the fun. Whoever WANTED to SEE a normal Hamlet, anyway? If ever a character deserved to be neurotic and self-obsessed it's Hamlet (in all fairness, however, Gibson was only the 2nd worst Hamlet I ever saw; Nicol Williamson's whiney turn at it in 1968 made me physically ill, and his inexplainable contempt for the material shows in every frame).

If only Branagh had cast Daniel Day Lewis in the lead! What a "Hamlet" we might have had. Complex, indulgent, dangerous, romantic AND tragic! Instead, we get a good Hamlet (and a flawed "Hamlet"), but neither is great.

The conception of this "Hamlet" is an ice palace motif. For some reason, I kept expecting Jack Nicholson to rush out with an axe. But it works, as do many of the supporting players. Why, though, does it appear Branagh was reluctant to cast good looking men? If we get to bask at the beauty and tremendous talent of Julie Christie (where has she been?) and Kate Winslet (the finest Ophelia I ever saw), why do we have to have such unmemorable faces on the males in the cast?

Still, we take well-produced Shakespeare where we get him, and the full four-hours goes by nicely.

I should have known. Back when they made a movie of "Funny Girl," they cut my two favorite songs ("Cornet Man" and "Music That Makes Me Dance"). In "Prince of Tides," Barbra cuts my two favorite parts of the book (the story of the white dolphin, and the final part where the older brother becomes a sniper hiding in the woods). Who else but Barbra would cut the choicest supporting female role in the story (the mad sister who Melinda Dillon could have done to perfection)to less than 10 minutes of screen time?

Who else but Barbra would hire a great actress like Blythe Danner only to cut her scenes down to the minimum number of seconds needed to be seen? It is a tribute to Ms. Danner that she manages to create a character all the same, believable and complex despite the director's attempted sabotage.

Streisand manages to give us a skeleton of the original plot in a little over an hour, then turns this movie into girl meets goy just like "The Way We Were." Yeah, the romance was in the book, but it wasn't so in your face.

An unintentionally funny scene: Nick Nolte weeps in the good psychiatrist's office (Dr. Lowenstein is played by Barbra Streisand), as he recalls being raped when he was a boy. The doctor, with the best of intentions, says "I feel your pain." Somebody behind me said "I don't think so, Honey."

Some thoughts that went through my mind as I sat through this thing shortly after it won a few awards:

1. Hmmmm. . . the theme sounds more-than-a-little like "On Top Of Old Smokey."

2. How can a movie win an Oscar for Best Costumes when it's mostly men's underwear?

3. I'm just not GOOD enough for this movie.

4. I think my date is asleep.

5. This movie has everything but Merryl.

6. Yes, I'm sure it's "On Top of Old Smokey."