A Midsummer Night's Dream Review
by Jonathan Richards (Movie_Critic AT prodigy DOT com)June 12th, 1999
THE BOTTOM LINE
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM
Written & Directed by Michael Hoffman
Based on the play by William Shakespeare
With Kevin Kline, Michelle Pfeiffer
De Vargas PG-13 115 min
Have you ever had one of those dreams where things don't quite work the way they should, where stuff happens out of context and in the wrong places and the people don't all fit, but you still wake up feeling pretty good? That's the way it is with Michael ("Soapdish") Hoffman's take on "A Midsummer Night's Dream".
This is one of those conceptually reimagined Shakespearean productions, and while such adventures can work (Ian McKellan's "Richard III"), they run the risk of throwing the proceedings out of balance, and that's what happens here. Hoffman has set his version of the Bard's Athenian comedy in Tuscany, which causes a few problems, and he's updated it to the late 19th century (presumably to be able to throw in bicycles), which causes a few more. References to Athens seem a little strange in the setting, and a hundred years ago they were letting girls play girls' parts, which strains the logic of the "Pyramus and Thisbe" play-within-a-play casting.
The first clue that something may be amiss comes at the main title, which is overlaid with a wink-and-nudge note to the effect that corsets and high-button collars were still in fashion, but "the good news is that the bustle was on its way out, which made possible the use of that new-fangled invention, the bicycle." This doesn't set a Shakespearean tone, but it seems to embolden Hoffman to make a few other improvements on Shakespeare as he rolls along. The worst of these is a digression where, to give more prominence and pathos to Bottom, he has rude workmen spill red wine on the weaver's white suit, and then sends him home crestfallen to his apartment and his harridan wife (whom we've seen earlier looking for him and demanding in Italian "Where's that worthless husband of mine?") It becomes a virtual subplot, and it's of no great help to Shakespeare.
But the source material is magnificent, and the settings are beautiful, and the cast for the most part is up to the challenge. Dominic West as Lysander falls the shortest, but Calista Flockhart is a revelation as Hermia, and Stanley Tucci makes Puck a rascally animated cartoon that nicely fits the sprightly character. Rupert Everett is good as a quietly scheming Oberon, and Michelle Pfeiffer's beauty and talent do lovely things with Titania, though she occasionally seems to lose confidence and resort to acting flourishes. The outstanding performance belongs to Kevin Kline, whose Bottom the Weaver radiates a rustic goodness and balances buffoonery with simple wisdom. Kline's language is effortless, his timing flawless, and his depth bottomless. He and Sam Rockwell (as the boy Thisbe) make a hilarious romp of the climactic play-within-a-play, which features that current comedy staple, the hurled dog, and might be retitled "There's Something About Thisbe".
The bottom line: despite its many flaws, it's still "A Midsummer Night's Dream", and it's still well worth seeing.
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