Short Movie Review: The Hustler, West Side Story, A Midsummer Night's Dream

The Hustler (1961) --> One of the great Tortoise vs. Hair movies where billiards is the contest. Newman plays Eddie Felson, an up and coming pool player who takes on Minnesota Fats (played adeptly by the great Jackie Gleason) the icon of the billiards world. Eddie (the hare)may be a better shot, he may even be the greatest shot ever and if he played Fats one game Eddie would win. But pool, like a long distance race, is not a one shot, or one game contest. Minnesota Fats (the tortoise) shows why he is considered the best. The contest begins with Eddie taking a considerable lead, but patience and will of mind wins in the end.

Scott D. Brown

A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999) --> Michael Hoffman (Soap Dish, One Fine Day, Restoration), with this film, has joined a long list of directors who have adapted Shakespeare's funniest play to film. We can look as far back as film's silent era for J. Stuart Blackton and Charles Kent's version in 1909 for the beginnings of the adaptation. But the 1935 version directed by William Dieterle and Max Reinhardt and staring a young Mickey Rooney as Puck is the best version of the play; this version by Hoffman falls somewhere in the middle.

Shot in Tuscany with elaborate detail to the visual aspects of the film, it is a beauty to watch. The setting is late 18th century with as much detail to costumes as with scenery, you come to wonder why Hoffman didn't put as much work in the actual story of the film. Hoffman wrote this screenplay and it seems that he relied on the all star cast to bring the story to life.

Except for Kline's brilliance and some moments from Tucci, the rest of the cast were adequate. The most enjoyable part of the film comes at its end where the comedy of errors Pyramus and Thisbe is enacted. It makes fun of Shakespeare's love tragedy Romeo and Juliet to hilarious results. It outshines the rest of the film for pure fun, which is in a way, disappointing. You want the main character's parts to be the most humorous, as they should be (how can people changing love alliances at the sprinkling of fairy dust not be), but they fail to compete with the lesser parts of this "play within a play".

The musical score, like the scenery, is gorgeous. Simon Boswell is responsible for the film's score, but with Felix Mendelssohn, Puccini and Verdi adding to the acoustic beauty of the film, he had help to make the soundtrack worth a purchase.

I will suggest that you familiarize yourself with the play before watching this film as it will be difficult to follow. The actors speed through the script to sometimes dizzying effect. Also Hoffman, it seems, assumes you know the story since he spends little time in an explanation of what you see on the screen. Although he usually would be correct in this assumption, those who are ignorant of Shakespeare will not enjoy this film.

Overall, Hoffman did a credible job brining Shakespeare alive on film. But he seemed to concentrate his efforts on the visual aspects of the film sometimes ignoring character development and plot explanation; beautiful scenery, beautiful costumes, beautiful music, beautiful actors (Especially Flockhart and Pfeiffer) plainly a beautiful film but hard to follow with confusion being its largest flaw. You will be rewarded in watching this film more than once as a second and third viewing lessens the confusion making the beauty of the film come to the fore.

Full Spectrum Staff