"There's something rotten in the City of Angels," claims the video box. Sure enough, under the dysfunctional dealings of a family business is the story of Hamlet retooled for the twilight world of nocturnal L.A. Jack (Jonathan Penner, who cowrote the screenplay with director Stacy Title) is spending a joyless break from graduate school to deal with his father's sudden death. He's disconnected from his unstable lover (Mary-Louise Parker), the daughter of family lawyer Philip Baker Hall, and his mom (Jacqueline Bisset), a withdrawn alcoholic who has let his "2-watt" Uncle Carl (Jamey Sheridan) manage the family fortune. When a mysterious figure tells him that Carl murdered his father, Jack's unsettled feelings are thrown into a restless rage. This official Slamdance 1999 selection is never as moving or insightful as Michael Almereyda's Wall Street Hamlet with Ethan Hawke, but Title makes the most of this free adaptation, and drives the film with the simmering energy of a frantic, wound-up hero. It's surprising how well the story lends itself to the double-crossing and devious betrayal of modern neo-noir, only periodically stopping for a Shakespearean rumination (the "Alas, poor Yorick" speech becomes a meditation on a skull fragment, the remains of a brutal execution-style murder). Title makes the fatal architecture of Shakespeare work beautifully and unpretentiously in a modern context, creating a modest but satisfying gritty little thriller. --Sean Axmaker
(20 votes)
2.
Something is rotten in the state of California. In wake of his father's death, the aimless, melancholy Jack (Penner - LAST SUPPER) reluctantly dons the crown and ill-fitting robes of the family empire--a sleazy but profitable Los Angeles adult entertainment franchise. However, Jack suspects that his greedy uncle (Sheridan - CRADLE WILL ROCK) and mother (Bisset - DANGEROUS BEAUTY) are behind his father's untimely demise--a suspicion heightened by their announcement to wed immediately after his father is laid to rest. Jack's quest to unravel the truth places him in mortal danger and on the brink of self-destruction in this action-packed, neo-noir reinterpretation of HAMLET.
(20 votes)
3.
Something Is Rotten In The City Of Angels.
Foul play and dirty suspicions set the stage for Jack (Penner) as he discovers the facts behind the death of his wealthy father and the untimely marriage plans between his Mother (Bisset) & his Uncle (Sheridan). Even his girlfriend Julia (Parker) grows unstable, as this thriller plot spirals out of control.
(20 votes)
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