A Midsummer Night's Dream main backdrop
A Midsummer Night's Dream main poster

A Midsummer Night's Dream

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6.4/10 • 376

1999-05-201h 56m

FantasyComedyRomance

Love makes fools of us all.

The lovely Hermia is to wed Demetrius, but she truly cares for Lysander. Hermia's friend, Helena, is in love with Demetrius, while other romantic entanglements abound in the woods, with married fairy rulers Titania and Oberon toying with various lovers and each other.

Directors
Michael Hoffman
Editors
Garth Craven

Top Billed Cast

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  1. Anna Friel

    Anna Friel

    Hermia

  2. Calista Flockhart

    Calista Flockhart

    Helena

  3. Christian Bale

    Christian Bale

    Demetrius

  4. Dominic West

    Dominic West

    Lysander

  5. Stanley Tucci

    Stanley Tucci

    Puck

  6. Rupert Everett

    Rupert Everett

    Oberon

  7. Michelle Pfeiffer

    Michelle Pfeiffer

    Titania

  8. Kevin Kline

    Kevin Kline

    Nick Bottom

  9. Sophie Marceau

    Sophie Marceau

    Hippolyta

Reviews1

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CinemaSerf Avatar

CinemaSerf

Jun 18, 2023

6/10

This is my favourite Shakespeare story, full of mischief and mayhem, comedy and even a good bit of lust mixed in with the true love. This, however, is a really pedestrian adaptation that doesn't measure (for measure) up at all. The all important character of "Puck" is really quite underplayed by Stanley Tucci and Kevin Klein's "Bottom" comes across better suited for a pantomime performance of this tale of the ultimate love triangle. If you don't know the story: "Hermia" (Anna Friel) is in love with "Lysander" (Dominic West) but her father (Bernard Hill) wants her to marry "Demetrius" (Christian Bale). In the end they have to go before the Duke (David Strathairn) who says either marry as you're bid or prepare to die! Bent on escaping, they all end up in the forest and under a magical spell from "Puck" that throws all of their order into chaos and leaves us with some colourful and entertaining scenarios as the poor old Duke attends to his own impending nuptials whilst unsure of who actually loves whom! The problem with the casting here is that they all seem a little overwhelmed by the language. It does stick to the traditional dialogue, and I couldn't help but wonder if maybe the stars were just too in awe of what they were acting and so nothing really comes across as very natural or engaging to watch. It looks good, there is a fine score mixing the classical with a Simon Boswell original but sadly the comedy doesn't work so well and the whole thing underperforms this magical and whimsical story. Nothing special here, sorry.

Media

  • A Midsummer Night's Dream poster
  • A Midsummer Night's Dream poster
  • A Midsummer Night's Dream poster
  • A Midsummer Night's Dream poster
  • A Midsummer Night's Dream poster
  • A Midsummer Night's Dream poster
  • A Midsummer Night's Dream poster
  • A Midsummer Night's Dream poster
  • A Midsummer Night's Dream poster

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Status
Released
Original Language
English
Budget
$11,000,000.00
Revenue
$16,071,990.00
Keywords
loverfairypromiseluckpuck