Dana Marschz is a failed actor-turned-high school drama teacher. Shortchanged in the talent department, Dana still harbors ambitions and passions. At work, that is; his personal life, with his dissatisfied wife Brie and their boarder Gary, leaves much to be desired. At Tucson's West Mesa High School, Dana sees himself as an .. Read more
| Starring | Steve Coogan, Catherine Keener, Amy Poehler, David Arquette |
|---|---|
| Director | Andrew Fleming |
| Genres | Comedy |
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Dana Marschz is a failed actor-turned-high school drama teacher. Shortchanged in the talent department, Dana still harbors ambitions and passions. At work, that is; his personal life, with his dissatisfied wife Brie and their boarder Gary, leaves much to be desired. At Tucson's West Mesa High School, Dana sees himself as an inspirational teacher. But his adaptations of popular films, as performed by his top students Rand and Epiphany, are not resonating. When his latest--re-creating Erin Brockovich--is dismissed by the ninth-grade drama critic and his department is targeted for closure, Dana must reach deep into himself for creativity. After much perspiration, he conceives a sequel to Shakespeare's Hamlet--a musical-theater extravaganza that will disdain both political correctness and dramatic credibility. Rallying and rousing his class, Dana casts a wider net by recruiting transfer students like Ivonne for key roles. With rehearsals underway, objections from school officials and the community are soon raised, but Dana will not be denied his freedom of artistic expression. After all, "to thine own self be true." Dana gets unexpected support from ACLU attorney Cricket Feldstein and his favorite actress, Elisabeth Shue. Above all else, he fervently believes that his opus must be staged, and nothing can break his optimistic spirit.
| Starring | Steve Coogan, Catherine Keener, Amy Poehler, David Arquette, Elisabeth Shue, Josh Berry, Sian Bird, Frank Bond, Deborah Chavez |
|---|---|
| Director | Andrew Fleming |
| Studio | MOMENTUM PICTURES |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 32 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Comedy |
| Language | DVD: English |
| Released | DVD: 07 Sep 2009 Production year: 2009 |
| Format | DVD |
Steve Coogan is one of those actors you really want to love. Every clip from his British television work teases,... read more on Time Out
I feel the need to comment on two things, Coogans performance and the movie as a whole.
Coogan's performance was not his best, why they decided to go ahead with the atrocious american accent I don't know. As it is, his performance has a few fleeting moments of comedy, but otherwise its a poor comparison to his other work.
The same can be said of the movie. A few laughs, but most of the jokes are flatly delivered.
Rent this if you like comedies by Ben Stiller or the Fallery's. Otherwise wait for it to be on TV.
This film manages for the most part to land squarely in the gap between genuinely funny and shocking/provocative managing to be neither for most of its running time. Most of the 'laughs' are rather on the predictable side and the majority of the characters unlikeable. Waste of a good cast.
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