Shakespeare’s play receives highly imaginative but overly busy treatment from filmmaker Casey Wilder Mott, who transfers the action to present-day Los Angeles with only limited success. Duke Theseus (Ted Levine) is a powerful producer, while Hermia (Rachael Leigh Cook) is a movie star in love with celebrity photographer Lysander (Hamish Linklater). Her father Egeus (Alan Blumenfeld) wants Hermia to wed Demetrius (Finn Wittrock), a take-no-prisoners agent beloved of screenwriter Helena (Lily Rabe). Of course the four young lovers’ affections are altered by the magic of Puck (Avan Jogia), the surfer-dude servant of fairy king Oberon (Saul Williams), whose wife is Titania (Mia Doi Todd). Meanwhile, a mediocre acting troupe headed by self-important Bottom (Fran Kranz) makes a movie about Pyramus and Thisbe under the direction of quirky director Quince (Charity Wakefield) that will ultimately be shown to the duke, his betrothed Hippolyta (Paz de la Huerta), and the partnered lovers in Theseus’s screening room. While the modern transpositions work reasonably well, some—such as dressing up Pyramus and Thisbe to look like Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia—are juvenile, as is the decision to have Bottom’s transformation into an ass (donkey) depicted by showing his head as a human derrière. Nonetheless, the vigor of Mott’s approach (which extends to hyperkinetic editing and the periodic use of animation) coupled with the commitment of the actors make this an intriguing if not altogether successful take on the play. A strong optional purchase. (F. Swietek)
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Passion River, 104 min., not rated, DVD: $69.99 Volume 33, Issue 4
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
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