The seminal concept is interesting, and for anyone under thirty who hasn't seen the actual play Macbeth or experienced Lily Tomlin, Steve Martin, The Marx Brothers, Tiny Fey or anyone else who puts wit and insight and richly mined humor ahead of stoner attitudes and teen obsessions, this might be a very funny movie. As an independent film, it certainly has the right to its style and convictions, and while I found it a fascinating idea, I got lost in a haze of often indecipherable dialogue and Sophomoric meanderings. As he always does, Mr. Shakespeare will survive being utilized as a springboard, no matter how misguided: the same play was used as a gangster film in the 1950s called Joe Macbeth, and that was rather a mess as well; a fascinating version of the play is the Orson Welles Indie version, made in 18 days on old Hollywood Western sets at Republic Studios, lit dark and made wet--it isn't all clear, but its a fascinating immersion in the genuinely dark world of the renegade Scot and his ambitious mate and its haunting images stick with the viewer. This not so much.
Review of Scotland, Pa.
