Billy Crystal is surprisingly effective as the First Gravedigger, a man who, for all his raw jokes, knows enough not to get in the way of the powerful when they're going mad. Richard Briers makes Polonius a tough, seasoned political infighter (though this makes his rambling, fatuous speeches seem out of character), and Kate Winslet goes mad quite prettily as Ophelia.īranagh's celebrated, gimmicky casting of Big Stars in small roles yields mixed results. Nicholas Farrell's Horatio is as simply loving and nobly selfless as a dog. Julie Christie is a beautiful, sensual, shallow Queen Gertrude, whose character darkens as she realizes the corruption to which she's turned a willfully blind eye. The rest of the cast is generally strong without being particularly exciting.

In particular, Claudius, the murderer of Hamlet's father and usurper of his throne, is revealed as almost as great a role as the Prince himself, and as the calculating killer who now wants only to enjoy his new life in peace, Derek Jacobi gives the movie's most interesting performance. Working from the uncut script, Branagh brings out the almost novelistic complexity of the play it's worth every one of the 238 minutes plus intermission just to experience the sprawling power of Shakespeare's dramaturgy. Of course, it's a book with a great text. Branagh is smart and extremely hard-working, but he's not an imaginative actor or director, and he's produced the film equivalent of a lushly illustrated coffee-table book. Kenneth Branagh's four-hour film version of 'Hamlet' is intelligent, well intentioned and honorable - and there's not a single thrilling moment in it. 'Hamlet': Kenneth Branagh's Inaction Flick By Lloyd Rose

: 'Hamlet': Kenneth Branagh's Inaction Flick

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