The Scottish Play

I only give this beautiful gem nine stars because it could have been a lot longer and I wouldn't have cared in the least. I normally don't like Shakespearean acting, but this film is not only great, it's enlightening. Brilliantly written and equally acted, I carry a renewed love for Shakespearean theatre because for the first time I've been shown the great playwright as a human god instead of some capricious tyrant from Mount Olympus. Bravo to everyone involved!

Keith Boynton has creatively crafted the words of The Scottish Play to the point that it absolutely delightful. Thinking outside of the box and imagining "what if" Shakespeare was really not satisfied with Macbeth. The cast was able to carry off the film perfectly. You will find yourself throughly entertained in this feel good movie then you will begin to think what if Shakespeare were really a ghost wanting to rewrite his plays. I can only imagine that he would be pleased with Boynton and decide that he could probably have not rewritten Macbeth any better himself. This would be a great play to share in a classroom to follow Macbeth then compare and contrast between the two.

I don't think I've ever seen a movie that seemed so assured in certain aspects and so inept in others. The concept is good; the script--which faces the considerable challenge of providing clear and witty blank verse dialogue and credible additional scenes for Macbeth--is often excellent; the tough parts of the actress and the ghost are handled well; and the cinematography is often lovely.

On the other hand, the pacing is poor, especially in the sluggish first half, in ways that could easily have been corrected. On at least two occasions, one character relates to another what happened in the previous scene--explanation that's begging to be cut. The set-up should have been established much more quickly, leaving more time for the payoff--the rehearsals and the performance of the play within the movie--which are entertaining, when they finally arrive.

The editing is far too busy: too many cuts, too many different shots, too much cutting back and forth during stretches of dialogue--all rather exhausting, undermining some decent material.

Finally, the actor playing the 'charmingly awkward' young theater director is all awkward and no charm. Not his fault, I suspect; he's not right for the part, and it doesn't seem he got much help from the director.

This could have been a fine little movie; it's hard to understand how the people involved could have missed such glaring problems.

Keith Boynton is wordsmith with a delicate touch, an eye for opportunity to interpret romance, magic, and to give the Bard a chance to revise his work. The cast played their parts to the hilt. I loved the film, and will revisit it with great joy. Boynton is truly a romantic at heart, with fresh breath of air!

As an aficionado of Shakespeare, I have to give Boynton high marks for his use of iambic pentameter: just right. The actors rose to the task of making the film a romantic reality. Believable at every turn. .

The film was too short for my liking, but that doesn't damper my marks for the best film I've seen in many a year.

Theatre friends, Bard buffs, Macbeth mavens, iambic pentameter addicts and lovers of a classic rom-com in which all ends well, I beg you not to miss this lovely movie. Polymathic writer-director Keith Boynton brings a gentle and satisfying gem of a movie that is literate, lovely to look at and listen to, and purely enjoyable. Anyone who has worked or seen any New England theatre festival performance will feel right at home here. Every discipline in this movie, from writing to acting to directing to lights, sound, cinematography, location and sets, is exquisitely right. Shout out to the hilariously acted character of the stage manager! My new favorite Christmas movie. After all, A Christmas Carol is a ghost story, too.