X
- 2018
- Brainstorm Media
- 1 h 45 m
- 2018
- Brainstorm Media
- 1 h 45 m
Summary Mistaken identity, unrequited love, and the supernatural are combined in Shakespeare's classic set in modern day Los Angeles.
Directed By: Casey Wilder Mott
Written By: Casey Wilder Mott, William Shakespeare
- 2018
- Brainstorm Media
- 1 h 45 m
- 2018
- Brainstorm Media
- 1 h 45 m
A Midsummer Night's Dream
67
8.0
Summary Mistaken identity, unrequited love, and the supernatural are combined in Shakespeare's classic set in modern day Los Angeles.
Directed By: Casey Wilder Mott
Written By: Casey Wilder Mott, William Shakespeare
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 8 Critic Reviews
67
63% Positive
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
13% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
25% Negative
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 8 Critic Reviews
67
63% Positive
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
13% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
25% Negative
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
Transposing the Athenian comedy to Southern California, Casey Wilder Mott takes his bow as a feature director with a sensuous, silly and superbly cast version, one whose visually vibrancy matches its feel for the language.
This film is pure delight.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 9 User Ratings
8.0
67% Positive
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
33% Mixed
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 9 User Ratings
8.0
67% Positive
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
33% Mixed
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
The most enjoyable movie experience in long time. A brilliant whimsical interpretation of what previously had not been one of my favorite plays. It is now. WS would love this. Exceptionally clever. This movie is going to be a really BIG DEAL!
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Worthy of the Bard! I cringe a little each time a novel Shakespeare staging comes out (I shouldn’t of course – Shakespeare is nothing if not adaptable to everyone and everywhere) but this lives up to the depth and layering, the flippancy and seriousness, the timeless themes in the mouths of silly children so often and in so many ways, it is pure joy and Shakespeare himself would have loved it. Puck as a talented surfer dude, Theseus as a movie mogul, Helena as a poet, Oberon as an assured underworld hipster-what perfect roles! The language cut up and dislocated and juxtaposed among texts and projections and different speakers (yet shockingly well spoken) but by the book, the framing within framing so naturally expressed and even expanded in our cell phones, photos, videos, movies, and lives-what fun! Fresh and perfect! Casey Mott is the right kind of Shakespeare nerd, one who gets that these are stories for all of us and that there is always one more layer and one more joke to be had-Hurray! Congratulations! Let’s have more!
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If you’re hoping to see a production just like the one that would have been done in 1596, this ain’t it. But Mott’s version is a hell of a good time in its own right.
Mott, who started out in Hollywood working in the fabled William Morris Agency mailroom, nimbly choreographs all the updating, resulting in a breezy, cute-and-clever confection that’s tailor-made for a sultry midsummer’s night.
Despite the film’s good intentions it’s an underwhelming adaptation of Shakespeare’s play, with cute side gags that make more of an impression than the characters or the story.
This adaptation feels like a soap opera made by someone who has seen too much late-stage Woody Allen and flounders with the self-importance of a director unable to read either text or city.
Too clever for its own good.
I've seen several versions of A Midsummer Night's Dream on both film and stage, and this was by far the least successful. The filmmaker was influenced by Baz Luhrmann, and completely modernized the story, including having some of the dialogue shown in text on smart phones. Some of the inventions don't work for me: when Bottom turns into an "ass" his face becomes a person's rear end, and the theatrical group becomes a film crew who do a spoof on Star Wars. The mostly young actors are not up to the task of performing the Shakespearean dialogue. Somehow, making this a totally modern play (except for the language) with modern locations takes much of the magic out of the play for me. The 1999 version with Kevin Kline and Michelle Pfeiffer was much better.
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Production Company
Empyrean Pictures,
5B Productions,
Dream Movie
Release Date Jul 13, 2018
Duration 1 h 45 m