'Hamlet 2': The Bard as slapstick

The Marschzes are so poor, they have taken in a cretinous boarder named Gary (David Arquette). Because Dana can't afford a car, he awkwardly roller skates to and from school. Keener is wonderfully abrasive as the disdainful Brie, who decides that anyone (especially Gary) would be better mate than her husband. Discouragingly for Dana, his chaotic classes include only two serious drama students: closeted, high-strung Rand (Skylar Astin), a star in his own mind, and Epiphany (Phoebe Strole), a syrupy Christian goody-good. Most of the other students are rowdy Mexican-Americans, whom Dana, in the movie's jab at ethnic profiling, mistakenly assumes to be gang members. The surliest, Octavio (Joseph Julian Soria), is also the most talented and is eventually cast as Hamlet. Unbeknownst to Dana, he is the son of snooty high-achieving... [read full story]