A Midsummer Night's Dream

When Disney (on the Miramax label) slyly rushed to video Adrien Noble's 1996 British filmed stage version of Shakespeare's classic tale of mismatched lovers who spend an enchanted evening in the forest, aided by well-meaning but often bumbling fairies and sprites, we recommended that readers (VL-7/99) not be confused and wait instead for the video release of Fox's summer would-be blockbuster. Well, the wait is over. Although it only grossed 18 million in the theaters (making it a middling boxoffice hit for the Bard--not quite Romeo + Juliet, but not Othello either), A Midsummer Night's Dream is not only a genuinely pleasant diversion, but--thanks to Kevin Kline's masterful portrayal of overeager village actor Nick Bottom--one of the funniest films of 1999. Always easy on the eyes, director Michael Hoffman coaches solid performances out of the remaining cast members--Rupert Everett as the brooding fairy king Oberon, Stanley Tucci as his impish sidekick Puck, and Calista Flockhart as Helena, one of the lovestruck humans on which the spirits practice their charms. In fact, only Michele Pfeiffer, as Titania, queen of the fairies, seems uncharacteristically flat. It's been a good long while since a decent adaptation of one of Shakespeare's most beloved comedies has hit the screen (discounting the abovementioned 1996 stage version; the dreadful 1968 version with Diana Rigg, Ian Holm and Judi Dench; and the loosely adapted A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy by Woody Allen), 64 years in fact, since James Cagney flitted around the screen as the irrepressible Puck in the 1935 classic. Recommended. (R. Pitman)