Macbeth

Men of Respect, starring John Turturro in an Italian mob makeover of Shakespeare's Macbeth, awkwardly transplanted the Bard's classic tragedy into the milieu of gats and goombahs. Ditto for Australian Romper Stomper director Geoffrey Wright's Macbeth, set in Melbourne's criminal underworld. While Shakespeare's prose is more or less intact, the play's power has been diluted by questionable editing and an overload of blandly stylized violence (you can't call it "Tarantino-esque," since Quentin Tarantino would've found a more original way of serving up Shakespeare). Here, Macbeth (played by Sam Worthington) is a bong-hitting hit-man, and therein lies the rub: How do you convey lethal ambition in a haze of pot smoke and lazy hedonism? Where's the menace in a threat prophesied by three naked, perky-breasted young witches whose "toil and trouble" includes giving Macbeth a stoned-out shagging? Why has Dunsinane been turned into a gated lair for Macbeth, who here resembles a pampered rock star in a bleak-chic fashion shoot? When Macbeth goes down in a slow-mo hail of bullets, it's as if he's the innocent victim of an empty-headed quest for hipster street-cred. Truly a tale full of sound and fury, signifying nothing, this is not recommended. [Note: DVD extras include a 13-minute "making-of" featurette, and trailers. Bottom line: a small extras package for a slight film.] (J. Shannon)