chaswe-28402 Written and directed by Tom Stoppard, and just possibly a tad too much of both. A bit brilliant but long. If you don't know your Shakespeare, you'll be as much at a loss as R & G. If you know him and his Hamlet, you'll find stuff to intrigue you. But why is it G, or is it R, almost eurekas Archimedes principle, discovers gravity, the equal and opposite reaction, the conservation of energy, mechanical dynamics, invents the steam engine and the biplane? What has this to do with Hamlet, or anything else ? Fantastic settings, lovely costumes. A bit like Bergman's Magician. Great acting. But life gets tedious, don't it? Even when there's a puppet play within a play within a play within a play. Almost overkill. A lot of ins and a lot of outs, but not quite as funny as TBL. Johnson thought Shakespeare's wordplay went on a bit; maybe the same applies here. Tom's a mind to amaze, but he was only learning film direction. Death is a ship, that's true enough. This may not be helpful, but why should a film review be helpful ?

Jacin Harter Cco This mind-bending, sideways look at two of "Hamlet"'s lesser characters is classic, undeniable comedy genius. Tom Stoppard's direction flowers with as much spot-on slapstick as his words and, indeed, as his actors' performances.Gary Oldman is intoxicating! Watching him as Rosencrantz you will forget all about your Jack Sparrows after this (goatee and all, Depp totally stole his persona from Oldman). He's Buster Keaton, Laurel and Hardy, Roberto Benigni, and Peter Sellers all rolled into one! I plan to find more such characters from Oldman - certainly one of the most sublime and delightful performances of all time!Funny note: If "The Lion King" is childishly derivative of "Hamlet", "The Lion King 1½" is a total f*cking rip-off of "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead".Also - "R & G Are Dead" is frequently compared to Beckett's "Waiting For Godot" (which should never be filmed!) as dealing equally with man's insubstantial grasp of his fate and the routines/shtick that passes the time before death. "R & G" is likely more palatable to a wide audience as it's abstract philosophy is counter-balanced by a well-known and literal storyline.

Movie_Muse_Reviews Tom Stoppard's "Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead" is a brilliant existential twist on a classic story (Shakespeare's "Hamlet") and classic storytelling. It's sharp, witty, well-acted and thought-provoking in any number of ways, being both memorably absurd and surprisingly truthful.It's hard to scrutinize, but the truth is that Stoppard's Tony-winning 1968 play doesn't offer an ounce of proof as to why it belongs on the screen. It's a contemplative story, one that's heavy and dependent on dialogue. It's the struggle of all stage-to-screen adaptations, but where others have succeeded in shedding new light through that transition, Stoppard's re- imagining of his own work lacks a visual edge, perhaps explain why he never took up the director's chair again.The story follows "Hamlet" characters Rosencrantz (Gary Oldman) and Guildenstern (Tim Roth), two remarkably unimportant characters from the play who are part of the tragedy's final body count for no reason other than being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Stoppard's story explores the play from their perspective: Were they even aware of what was unfolding around them? What was the point of them being there -- their purpose? Why did they die? These questions also fuel the film.Stoppard paints them as goofball characters that despite great wit and sophistication, remain completely oblivious to everything around them until it's too late and their prescribed fate takes over. Roth and Oldman handle these extremely random conversations that bounce between the literal and figurative playfully yet with great strength. They're a heck of a duo. Rosencrantz also has a knack for discovering basic laws of physics but then losing them amidst his and Guildenstern's struggle to figure out what exactly it is they're doing in all of this Hamlet business. Stoppard uses these examples and a fitting opening bit about the probability of a coin flip to suggest the conflict between randomness and order in life and nature.Also significant is the group of traveling tragedians led by Richard Dreyfuss, who end up being the ones to put on the play that Hamlet uses to catch his Uncle Claudius realizing his sin. They add the element of theater and tragedy into the meditative stew, reminding us that this story ("Hamlet") is indeed a work of fiction that was created to a purpose. He preaches in fate, that in tragedy everyone who dies dies because that is what's expected of them. It's a real head-churner, but as philosophically impressive as it is, none of that juicy thought is derived from the visual experience of the film. What characters say in this film is ten times more important than what they do, or namely how they do it. Stoppard throws in some smaller visual elements and undoubtedly he must've added something to the screenplay that wasn't on the stage. After all, he had nearly 20 years to think about his work between the play and the film, so naturally he would've wanted to make some changes. But nothing about the way he films this story enhances the existential dialogue between characters as well as between film and audience.Having never seen the play, "Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead" was an enjoyable, thought-provoking film experience, but I would imagine having already been exposed to its meta-exploratory ingenuity, those coming to the film with previous exposure might not feel anything more fulfilling than simply seeing it in a three-dimensional world.~Steven CVisit my site at http://moviemusereviews.blogspot.com

Jackpollins Based upon Tom Stoppard's novel, the comedy Rosencrantz and Guilderstern are dead delivers great performances from its three leads, a funny and witty screenplay, and a lot of fun. Gary Oldman is fantastic as Rosencrantz, and Tim Roth is equally as great as Guilderstern. Richard Dreyfuss plays The Player, the fellow they meet while stumbling around. The script is clever because Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are two minor characters from Hamlet so as they stumble around, they do not know about how they are scripted. The movie starts off in a clever scene in which Rosencrantz keeps flipping a coin and always gets heads. This is somehow clever. Yes, it's the old I always get heads coin trick. But they somehow cleverly do it. On top of all this, Richard Dreyfuss is great in all his over-the-topness. If you like smart and sharp dialogue, you'll love it. If you watch it expecting a stupid comedy, or a comedy where you don't have to think, however, don't expect to like it. However, if you can get into a sharp, smart, funny, and witty comedy, you should definitely seek it out. A true classic.