Some Good performances fail to raise the stars in this urbanised Hamlet

With a cast containing Julia Stiles, Bill Murrary and Liev Shreiber, some of the best actors working in the business, you'd expect more. Hamlet is certainly not lazy film making, it is beautifully shot and some of the direction is air tight, Stiles Ophelia is a beautifully modest and slow performance, while Murray's Polonius is smart and exactly what it should be. It is Hawke's monotonal performance which ruins the piece, not to mention the choice to use traditional dialogue which will instantly isolate half of its audience from the get go. If you are a fan of Hamlet, Stiles, Murray, Shrieber or even Hawke then this is worth a look. It's not bad and pretty gripping if you have the patience to stick with it to the end.