Hamlet

Kevin Kline does a rather excellent job with Hamlet, keeping the mania, self-righteousness and bitterness of Hamlet intact, all characteristics that make Hamlet less than likable, while still being a very sympathetic and throughly intriguing character. We can empathize with his plight, and even though he's often a lot to take, we feel like he really alone in a corrupt and vile world, and not just an overly critical bastard (like Brannagh's Hamlet.) Unfortunately, Ophelia sucks and practically derails the play. Claudius, Gertrude, and Horatio are impressive, but they can't save the play from Ophelia's dreadful overracting and the utter irritation that issues forth from this teleplay's Polonius. Overall, worth it for Kline, but far from perfect.