A Midsummer Night's Dream
by Michael Hoffman
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Calista Flockhart, Kevin Kline, Michelle Pfeiffer, Rupert Everett, Stanley TucciDirector: Michael Hoffman
Brand: Twentieth Century Fox
Producer: Michael Hoffman
Writer: Michael Hoffman
Producer: Ann Wingate
Producer: Arnon Milchan
Producer: Leslie Urdang
Producer: Nigel Goldsack
Writer: William Shakespeare
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Letterboxed, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: Letterbox, 2.35:1
Running Time: 116 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-04-15
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Movie Reviews of A Midsummer Night's Dream
Movie Review: Amazon Review
Summary: 5 Stars
Thanks for sending me this movie in excellent condition, there was no damage to it and it played well from start to finish.
Summary of A Midsummer Night's Dream
A stellar cast, headed by Michelle Pfeiffer and Kevin Kline, bring Shakespeare's romantic comedy to life. When two pairs of star-crossed lovers, a feuding pair of supernatural sprites and a love potion gone awry all come together in an enchanted moonlit forest, the result is a delightful mix of merriment and magic. Also starring Calista Flockhart, Stanley Tucci and Rupert Everett.Imagine a work by Shakespeare reduced to one of those pretty, glossy coffee-table picture books that have only a dollop of text alongside its sumptuous photographs, and you might have Michael Hoffman's adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream. This all-star version of Shakespeare's comedy is gorgeously shot in Tuscany, complete with a magical forest, breathtaking landscapes, beautiful villas, picturesque villages, stunning period costumes--oh wait, there's supposed to be a story here, too! Hoffman hijacks Shakespeare's basic premise but doesn't instill it with much more than surface shine and transplants it to turn-of-the-century Italy. Ergo, it's left up to the actors to find the heart and soul of this classic play, in which the fairies of the forest play mix and match with four young lovers, courtesy of a magical love potion. Hoffman couldn't ask for better (or better looking) actors to play Shakespeare's dreamlike love games--Michelle Pfeiffer, Rupert Everett, Calista Flockhart, Christian Bale, Stanley Tucci, Kevin Kline, Anna Friel, Dominic West, the list goes on and on--but he sure as heck doesn't know what to do with them, aside from putting them in various states of undress. Only Flockhart (as the lovestruck Helena), Tucci (a sprightly Puck), Pfeiffer (dazzling and funny as the queen of the fairies), and especially the sublime Kline (as weaver-turned-donkey Bottom) seem to connect with their characters in ways that make this adaptation occasionally soar; the rest are inexplicably left to flounder. Hoffman does seem to set himself right with the film's climax, when Bottom's amateur acting troupe hilariously enacts the tale of Pyramus and Thisbe (it helps that the troupe includes Roger Rees, Sam Rockwell, and Bill Irwin). Those searching for a more in-depth exploration of Shakespeare's farce might do better to look elsewhere, but if it's gorgeous actors and scenery you're in the mood for (along with an evocative opera soundtrack), and an all's-well-that-ends-well ending, this Midsummer Night will give you pleasant if weightless dreams. --Mark Englehart
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