Almereyda excises big chunks of plot to shape his vision, but retains Shakespeare's language and pays such rigorous attention to meaning and subtext that what's missing isn't missed.
80
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Thou wilt be dazzled.
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Both a distraction and a revelation.
75
San Francisco ExaminerWesley Morris
San Francisco ExaminerWesley Morris
Hamlet finds in Hawke's greatish performance a Great Dane for this, or any other, modern moment.
70
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
Stylish, funny, and smart...but only up to a point.
Bill Murray's Polonius is so delightfully coy and self-satisfied that this performance is reason alone to see the picture.
63
Baltimore SunAnn Hornaday
Baltimore SunAnn Hornaday
Almereyda has done a splendid job of rendering Hamlet as expressive visually as it is verbally.
60
VarietyDennis Harvey
VarietyDennis Harvey
This slacker prince (Hawke) comprises a sinkhole at the center of adaptor-helmer Michael Almereyda's otherwise compelling contempo update.
50
USA TodaySusan Wloszczyna
USA TodaySusan Wloszczyna
But all the devices and upgrades do little to bring the poetry's meaning into clearer and more relevant focus for today's audiences.
38
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
Hamlet has audacity, intelligence, a provocative visual and musical style, virtually no poetry, a garbled story line weakened by savage cutting of the play, and a great yawning hole where a Hamlet ought to be.