Macbeth: The Comedy

Sitting down for Macbeth the Comedy I was rather expecting a kind of Iris Murdochesque production, full of in-jokes about Shakespeare and Macbeth in particular. How wrong I was. Macbeth: The Comedy takes Shakespeare's well-crafted tale and adds a liberal sprinkling of modern low-level American humour. Apart from lots and lots and lots (many) jokes about gays and lesbians there was an attempt to lace the movie with slapstick comedy, presumably lightening the scene. This didn't work at all, being more the kind of slaphead comedy that doesn't make it much onto tv any more. I was pleasantly surprised to find no toilet humour, but the tone wasn't held much about that with much sniggering concerning the abovementioned lesbian and gay characters in the film: for which one must assume there is a reason. Somewhere.

Macbeth, the comedy is exactly what the Shakespearean community needs , a little mickey take that doesn't take itself so god damn seriously... it was great to see Allison and the cast stir up the Holy of holies... Well done, I laughed a lot and didn't miss the original script one bit.... bassyb, new york

Anyone who takes on Shakespeare and dares to make even one change or offer a different interpretation is asking for a sock in the mouth. So what made Ms. LiCalsi think she could "tamper" with one of the Bard's hallowed masterpieces? Two reasons: a)why not? Shakespeare "tampered" with works of others and probably would get a charge if he knew his tales were getting the same, and b) LiCalsi had a wild idea that the Scottish Play could actually be funny. She was right. "Macbeth: the Comedy" juxtaposes prose and verse, medieval past and 21st century present, intellectual comic references yet just the right dose of slapstick delicately and strategically delivered. Only someone who really loves and knows Shakespeare's works could have written this script. Only those who know and appreciate Shakespeare and recognize he wouldn't have taken himself too seriously can enjoy this film. I found it clever and sharp with plenty of literary and cultural references, but also downright nuts at times. It doesn't try to be funny at the expense of the plot or characters. For those of you who don't know the story of Macbeth (hello High School Students) you WON'T forget it after this. Oh, and the costumes are good too.

An extremely silly and smart film, "Macbeth: The Comedy" never takes itself too seriously. Allison LiCalsi's interpretation of the Scottish play points out the inherent goofiness of ambition. The acting is perfect -- subtle when it needs to be, over-the-top when nothing else will do (check out Lady Macbeth's writhing-on-the-bed scene). The leading roles are handled with aplomb, and some of the minor roles (the murderers, the witches) nearly steal the show. LiCalsi's screenplay bounces between Shakespeare's own words and the contemporary vernacular. Sounds like a strange fit, but it works -- pretty soon, your ear forgets which is which and just enjoys the whole twisted tale. This is not a movie for the pretentious -- allow yourself to giggle and get into it.

Macbeth the Comedy tries, it really does. You can tell that the script writer really did want to make it funny, and that the cast really did too. It just doesn't work though. Most of the jokes fall flat (apart from a few near the end, and a good joke on the "new fashion of rhyming" at the start).