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William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream

Play trailer Poster for William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream PG-13 1999 1h 56m Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
66% Tomatometer 76 Reviews 60% Popcornmeter 50,000+ Ratings
This version of the renowned comedic play finds the world of humans intersecting with the realm of magic. The lovely Hermia (Anna Friel) is to wed Demetrius (Christian Bale), but she truly cares for Lysander (Dominic West). Hermia's friend, Helena (Calista Flockhart), is in love with Demetrius, while other romantic entanglements abound in the woods, with married fairy rulers Titania (Michelle Pfeiffer) and Oberon (Rupert Everett) toying with various lovers and each other.
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William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream

William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream

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Critics Consensus

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

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Critics Reviews

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Nell Minow Common Sense Media 12/21/2010
4/5
Sumptuous version, both earthy and enchanted. Go to Full Review
Andrew Sarris Observer 04/27/2007
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. Go to Full Review
Derek Adams Time Out 02/09/2006
Injecting the film with fun and pathos, Kline makes a superb Bottom; it's his play and he acts it to the hilt. Go to Full Review
Antonia Quirke Independent on Sunday 11/28/2017
Kevin Kline's no-life Bottom with his scrappy whiskers and ambitions is the best I've seen. Go to Full Review
Betty Jo Tucker ReelTalk Movie Reviews 04/07/2012
What fools these mortals be -- especially anyone who passes up Michael Hoffman's highly entertaining version of Shakespeare's famous comedy. Go to Full Review
Jim Lane Sacramento News & Review 08/07/2008
2/5
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Audience Reviews

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Giovana L Oct 2 Os atores são bonitos, a atuação foi boa, mas a história é chata,nunca li ou vi a história da peça de Shakespeare,e se eu não tivesse procurado a sinopse mais detalhada no Google,eu ficaria perdida total. As coisas estão começam no fio da meada,sem dar explicação nenhuma pra dar um norte,pra o expectador se situar, não são só os amantes de Shakespeare que vão assistir o filme,a mídia cinematográfica também alcança demais pessoas. A trama segue de de forma lenta, o humor é leve,não é pra todos os gostos, eu quase desisti na cena que eles encenam aquela peça durante o casamento dos protagonistas, meu deus que parte sem graça e chata, Além de que o personagem que fez o burro é um traidor mequetrefe, o Puck fez foi revelar a verdadeira aparência dele. Ele foi o único que não recebeu poção do amor então ele traiu a esposa porque quis. See more thiago s @Thiagostone Sep 5 Filme mais ou menos, o roteiro é fraco, as cenas são mais ou menos, a história é fraca, o elenco é fraco, e ninguém ajuda a melhorar o filme, os personagens são fracos, e o filme deveria ter cenas bem melhores e relevantes, para fazer o filme ser bom See more Matthew C Mar 25 This original film based on the old play by William Shakespeare brings about a visual view of the old play. After reading the book and now watched the movie, there are themes in this film that make me a little disappointed. My first complaint with the film is the dialogue is not 100% accurate with the book. One thing you'd expect from a book adaptation is accuracy which they do for the most part other than the dialogue. To the things I enjoyed. Christian Bale and the rest of the cast bring a good performance of these characters that would for other actors, be difficult to pull off but they do it well. Examples of this would be the film adaptation of "The Outsiders" book by S.E. Hilton and played in film by Tom Cruise, Matt Damon and others. Other good thoughts I had was the music composed by Simon Boswell really gave a little more interest adding onto the emotions by the characters. Another was the sets felt accurate from the book as you would think of the some imaginary places from the book would be. See more Lillitu D @E.Shosh 12/20/2024 One of my favourite movies, Kevin Kline, Rupert Everett, Michelle Pfeiffer and Stanley Tucci steal every scene and recite Shakespeare with ease. Calista Flockhart bothered me at first but she grows on you. See more David W 08/25/2023 A fun and well updated version of the play. There are some questionably strange choices in attempting to contemporise this and make it work in cinematic form but they largely work. Production wise this is sumptious to look at and the soundtrack works beautifully. The star studded cast largely cope well with standouts being Kline who is superb as bottom and Stanley Tucci as Puck. All in all its a successful production of the Bards classic, especially as it's not a play that particularly lends itself to this medium. That said I'm not sure Shakespeare purists will be as enamoured and due to the prose itself I doubt it'll convert many who weren't already familiar with the play, so I'm not sure who the target audience for this will actually be. Despite enjoying this myself, it's worth stating that I watched this with my wife who gave up with it about 40 minutes in as the prose simply wasn't for her and the humour simply wasn't to her taste. Never the less it's an attempt to make Shakespeare accessible to the masses and whilst I'm not sure it wholly achieves that aim, it's laudible in its intention and effort. See more William L 04/18/2021 Looking down the cast list before watching this film, I did not think that it would be Kevin Kline that would end up the show-stealer, but here we are. Hoffman's updated adaptation of the Shakespeare classic may not win over the purists with its altered setting and rather lighthearted tone, but it is for large sections a rather enjoyable film, particularly when the actors are allowed to get lost in the fun they are having with their roles. The source material doesn't necessarily lend itslf well to uniform character development given the size of the cast and the time restrictions of a feature-length film, but those that get the opportunity to shine do so, particularly Kline's Bottom and Tucci's Puck. Kline's exuberance leaps off the screen and delivers energy that is sorely lacking from conventional adaptations of period theater; his exaggerated theatrics in the final performance are wonderfully lively. The film comes in fits and starts, but when it's moving you'll be plenty entertained. (3/5) See more Read all reviews
William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream

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Movie Info

Synopsis This version of the renowned comedic play finds the world of humans intersecting with the realm of magic. The lovely Hermia (Anna Friel) is to wed Demetrius (Christian Bale), but she truly cares for Lysander (Dominic West). Hermia's friend, Helena (Calista Flockhart), is in love with Demetrius, while other romantic entanglements abound in the woods, with married fairy rulers Titania (Michelle Pfeiffer) and Oberon (Rupert Everett) toying with various lovers and each other.
Director
Michael Hoffman
Producer
Michael Hoffman, Leslie Urdang
Screenwriter
William Shakespeare, Michael Hoffman
Distributor
Fox, 20th Century Fox, Filmes Castello Lopes [pt], UGC-Fox Distribution, Fox Home Entertainment [br], Buena Vista Home Entertainment [br], 20th Century Fox de Argentina [ar], Gativideo
Production Co
Panoramica, Regency Enterprises, Fox Searchlight
Rating
PG-13
Genre
Comedy
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 8, 1999, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Mar 1, 2013
Runtime
1h 56m
Sound Mix
Dolby, Surround
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