Bard attack

Steve Coogan shines in the hilarious
high school theatre comedy Hamlet 2

by CHRISTOPHER SYKES

British comedian Steve Coogan has been tickling TV audiences’ funny bones across the pond for well over a decade. Canadians are most likely to recognize Coogan from his role in Michael Winterbottom’s modern cult classic 24 Hour Party People, or more recently, Ben Stiller’s Tropic Thunder. Just as Sacha Baron Cohen was a household name in England for years before cracking the North American market it’s only a matter of time before Coogan follows suit.

In the hilarious Hamlet 2, Coogan shines as high school drama teacher Dana Marschz. Despite being marginalized by the Tuscon, Arizona school board, he’s convinced he is following in the footsteps of great pedagogues like his hero Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society.

Instead of inspiring students, though, Coogan is best known at West Mesa High for his notoriously awful stage interpretations of modern blockbusters. After his adaptation of Erin Brockovich receives a dismal review in the school paper by nine-year-old drama critic Noah (played by the perfectly cast local Shea Pepe), the levee breaks. In short order, Coogan’s wife Brie (Catherine Keener) reveals she’s leaving him for bonehead boarder Gary (David Arquette) and the arts department is being permanently shut down thanks to budget cuts.

The class is determined not to go quietly. After writing a musical sequel to Hamlet in which the characters are saved thanks to a time machine, Coogan produces and stars alongside his pupils as they sing such memorable songs as “Rock Me Sexy Jesus,” “Raped in the Face” and “Gay as the Day is Long.”

Writer/director Andrew Fleming (Threesome) successfully blends over-the-top physical comedy with tongue-in-cheek irony using a level of sophistication not normally reserved for the high school comedy genre. It’s all thanks to what can only be described as an epic performance by Coogan. Think Peter Sellers meets Jim Carrey with a Mel Brooksian twist.

Sporting the best ‘do since Javier Bardem in No Country For Old Men, you can’t help but laugh whenever he’s on screen. Considering that’s practically every scene, skip out on the ab crunches before seeing this on Friday, or you’ll be hurtin’ all weekend. “The Deuce” has the potential to be the sleeper comedy of the year.

Hamlet 2 opens this Friday, Aug. 22

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