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Movies / Upcoming / A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream

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A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999)

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Reviews Counted:74

Fresh:50

Rotten:24

Average Rating:6.3/10

Consensus: Faultless production and shining performances display the Bard's talent propitiously.

Runtime: 2 hrs

Genre: Comedies

US Box Office: $0

Synopsis: Michael Hoffman's film adaptation of Shakespeare's magical comedy of a love-tangled quadrangle shimmers with sumptuous cinematography and a truly stellar cast that includes Kevin Kline, Michelle... Michael Hoffman's film adaptation of Shakespeare's magical comedy of a love-tangled quadrangle shimmers with sumptuous cinematography and a truly stellar cast that includes Kevin Kline, Michelle Pfeiffer, Stanley Tucci, Rupert Everett, Calista Flockhart, and Sam Rockwell. Relocated from Athens to an Italian villa, the film follows the romantic misadventures of four would-be lovers; at the beginning of the film Helena loves Demetrius who loves Hermia who loves Lysander, but all of that undergoes a change when the four young people chase each other into the woods and wander into the domain of Oberon and Titania (King and Queen of the Fairies), and the mischievous magic of Puck who possesses a flower that causes people to fall in love with the first person they encounter. Into the hilarity and confusion stumble a hapless band of laborers rehearsing a play for the Duke's wedding. One of the band, Nick Bottom, a humble weaver, is given the head of donkey and then, through the power of the flower, wins the love of Titania herself. After a dizzying whirl of magic, mayhem, and a million minor follies of the heart, everything is sorted out and everyone finds, at last, their match. [More]

Starring: Kevin Kline, Michelle Pfeiffer, Rupert Everett, Calista Flockhart

Starring: Kevin Kline, Michelle Pfeiffer, Rupert Everett, Calista Flockhart, Stanley Tucci, Anna Friel, Christian Bale, Dominic West, David Strathairn, Sophie Marceau, Roger Rees, Bernard Hill, Bill Irwin, Sam Rockwell, John Sessions, Max Wright, Gregory Jbara

Director: Michael Hoffman

Director: Michael Hoffman
Story: William Shakespeare
Producer: Leslie Urdang
Composer: Simon Boswell

[See More Credits]

Reviews for A Midsummer Night's Dream

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Bubble View | 1 2 3 4 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 
Reviews
Tomatometer Critic Review Category
N/R

Luke Buckmaster

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Jan., 01 2000 12:00 AM

In Film Australia

N/R

Jon Popick

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Oct., 18 2008 08:32 AM

Planet Sick-Boy

splat
2/5

Jim Lane

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Aug., 07 2008 03:17 AM

Sacramento News & Review

tomato
2.5/4

Maitland McDonagh

Your high school English teacher would approve, and parts are terrifically enjoyable.

Full Review Source: | comment 1 Comment | Jul., 04 2008 08:05 AM

TV Guide's Movie Guide

N/R

A visually delightful but curiously flat adaptation...

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Jul., 04 2008 08:02 AM

Channel 4 Film

tomato
3.5/4

James Sanford

Bathed in sunshine, stardust and star power, this 'Dream' should be required viewing for anyone who insists Shakespeare is stuffy and dull. ...this is Shakespeare for the masses.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Aug., 05 2007 04:51 PM

Kalamazoo Gazette

splat

Andrew Sarris

I remain skeptical about the ability of even the best American actors to read Shakespeare's lines without giving the impression that they are enduring very painful cultural root canal work.

Full Review Source: | comment 1 Comment | Apr., 27 2007 03:15 AM

New York Observer

tomato
3/4

Jeffrey M. Anderson

It has fun and makes you laugh.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Jun., 03 2006 04:28 AM

Combustible Celluloid

splat

Derek Adams

Injecting the film with fun and pathos, Kline makes a superb Bottom; it's his play and he acts it to the hilt.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Feb., 09 2006 03:16 AM

Time Out

tomato

Jeff Millar

If there is sacrilege afoot, I'm not enough of a scholar to spot it.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Jul., 21 2005 03:22 AM

Houston Chronicle

splat
C+

Robin Clifford

The execution of the Bard's comic work is less than sparkling.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Apr., 09 2005 03:24 AM

Reeling Reviews

tomato
3.5/5

Louis B. Hobson

It's a wildly entertaining romp that should delight fans of this year's Oscar-winner Shakespeare in Love.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Apr., 07 2004 04:44 PM

Jam! Movies

splat
C+

Eugene Novikov

As a movie, unfortunately, it doesn't quite jive.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | May., 22 2003 05:05 PM

Film Blather

tomato
3/4

Jim Shelby

What joy to hear an entire film audience roar with glee at Moonshine, Lion and Wall.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | May., 20 2003 05:05 PM

Palo Alto Weekly

tomato
5/5

John R. McEwen

Michael Hoffman's adaptation of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream is a delightful way to spend the summer solstice evening, or any other, for that matter.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Feb., 08 2003 08:07 AM

Film Quips Online

splat

Jeff Strickler

The film is never a chore to watch, but others have done better by the Bard.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Nov., 06 2002 02:51 PM

Minneapolis Star Tribune

splat

Paul Clinton (CNN.com)

Unfortunately, despite the wonderful locations, sets, costumes, and strong acting, this adaptation has a strange lack of magic or chemistry between players.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Jun., 23 2002 08:04 AM

CNN.com

splat
C

Paula Nechak

Hoffman, who did the adaptation himself, cuts and pastes portions of the play into his movie with a clunky hand. And the avalanche of star power nearly sinks the ship.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Apr., 03 2002 08:05 AM

Seattle Post-Intelligencer

N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Mar., 24 2002 08:04 AM

Boston Phoenix

tomato
3/4

Rick Groen

Hoffman charts a middle course, and travels it quite well -- his version is neither as elaborately baroque as Max Reinhardt's 1935 film treatment nor as starkly sexual as Peter Brooks's celebrated 1970 staging.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Mar., 19 2002 08:04 AM

Globe and Mail

 
 
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