‘Hamnet’ Is This Year’s Oscar-Bait Sob Fest

No, that’s not a typo: Chloé Zhao’s “Hamnet” is the story of how William Shakespeare came to write “Hamlet,” with the title a reference to the name of the Bard’s son.

I’m getting ahead of myself. Zhao’s blend of character-driven cinema, punctuated by dreamy visions of vast landscapes, has made her a critic’s favorite.

Zhao garnered the Best Director and Best Picture Oscars for “Nomadland” (2020), which appeared to usher her into an exciting second act as a film artist. Marvel’s “Eternals” (2021) followed “Nomadland” and proved to be, without much competition, the most unliked work in the MCU, with a massive running time and auteur touches at odds with fan expectations.

I’m not defending “Eternals,” but I suspect that, over time, it will be reappraised as one of the most interesting misses in the studio’s history. Her latest is already awash in great reviews and Oscar talk, but let me be frank – If I had to choose between watching “Hamnet” again or binge watching “Eternals” three times in a row, then more “Eternals,” please!

“Hamnet” stars Paul Mescal playing William Shakespeare as a young man with a vicious father and a miserable upbringing. Shakespeare is immediately twitterpated by Agnes (Jessie Buckley), and the two express their love mostly by frolicking in the forest.

When Agnes discovers she’s pregnant, the couple becomes Mr. and Mrs. Shakespeare, have kids and live happily ever after.

Just kidding.

The second and third act of the film grind down the audience in sorrow, but the film doesn’t earn the tears it tries to acquire by shaking us and just stopping short of turning us upside and smacking pepper into our eyes. “Hamnet” is less an exploration of the grief that awaits the Shakespeare family and more of an extended, filmed acting exercise. You read that right.

Zhao’s cinematographer ensures that we gaze at every moment of agony, internal or otherwise, that comes in the form of inducing labor, illness and experiencing loss. We witness so much horrible stuff; only Shakespeare’s “Titus Andronicus” is a bigger bummer to endure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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“Hamnet” is a slog, full of melodrama and scenes of actors resorting to histrionics that likely resulted in sore throats or loss of voice for at least a few days. I love actors and want to give them a break, especially if they’ve been good before, but they come up short in their latest venture.

After all, I don’t know if I’m seeing them at their best or if misdirection, a poor editing choice or perhaps a bad take undermines their work. Here, I felt bludgeoned by Buckley’s work, which, like Rose Byrne in “If I Had Legs, I’d Kick You” and Jennifer Lawrence in “Die My Love,” appears to be a failed attempt to top Isabelle Adjani’s hall of fame breakdown of a turn in “Possession” (1981).

Like Vanessa Kirby’s performance in “Pieces of a Woman” (2020), I admired how hard everyone is trying, how the look-at-me rawness of the acting is undeniable, but I left the film unmoved.

It’s Buckley’s movie, though Mescal, in addition to failing to connect with Shakespeare, makes some puzzling early choices (why is he smiling so much, particularly during the bleak beginning?).

The camera as a traveling eye is the most interesting touch, as striking sets or exteriors are shot in a way to suggest the eye is searching for details. Shakespeare fans can forget about feeling connected to the Bard’s inner life and work, as some awkward (and, frankly, implausible) rehearsal scenes and a few line drops of iambic pentameter aren’t enough for this to compete with “Shakespeare in Love” (1998).

The ending is too much; I love “Hamlet” and once played the Danish Prince in my younger years. There is joy and excitement, plus wit and genuine humor in the works of Shakespeare. This film leans in on ferocious scenes of tragedy, then laughably attempts to uplift us at the very end.

In the past two months, I’ve endured Mescal and Buckley in this, Byrne in “If I Had Legs, I’d Kick You,” Lucy Liu in “Rosemead,” and Lawrence and Robert Pattinson in “Die My Love,” not to mention the cast of the forthcoming hard-to-watch Oscar hopeful “Sirāt.”

My question is – is there a support group for actors who spill their thespian guts out for a movie but don’t win an Oscar?

One and a half stars (out of four)