Macbeth in Manhattan . Austin Chronicle . 03-29-99

Macbeth in Manhattan

DIRECTED BY: Greg Lombardo

REVIEWED: 03-29-99

A beloved leader; a scheming, jealous second-in-command; an ambitious wife pushed to mental collapse; a trio of gossiping harpies ... the characters in a famous tragedy or the real-life cast of a Broadway play? In Greg Lombardo's crafty, enjoyable comedy, life imitates art when things offstage during the rehearsal of the famously cursed "Scottish play" start looking suspiciously like the show itself. Theatre lovers will delight in the production details Lombardo so cleverly imitates, from the interaction among the catty cast to the floppy, finger-combed hair of the director. Even the dark, Peter Hall-ish production of Macbeth mounted by the cast is surprisingly sharp. As in the similarly premised Shakespeare in Love, a good knowledge of the script on which the film is based will enhance the viewing experience but is probably not necessary for enjoying the film. Although paralleling the play's narrative structure leads the film to a fairly unbelievable ending, Lombardo has nevertheless pulled off the unlikely by digging inside perhaps the bleakest of all of Shakespeare's plays and not only making us think, but also making us laugh.

--Sarah Hepola

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