Scotland, PA, 2001

In his directorial debut, Billy Morrissette brings us the best adaption of William Shakespeare to date in the world of film: Scotland, PA. Morrissette, also the writer of this movie, effectively adapts the classic tale of MacBeth into the blue collar world of a fast food restaurant in the 1970s. Joe McBeth (James LeGros) and Pat McBeth (Maura Tierney) are a pair of workers in a local fast food restaurant called Duncan’s, but Joe has many ideas for innovations and the pair conspire to murder the owner of Duncan’s when their advancement is stifled and ideas are used by the management. This action brings into effect the remainder of the movie detailing a cover up reminiscent of A Simple Plan, but with the addition of absolutely brilliant comedic performances by the cast and writing on the part of the director. The murder itself, and the ensuing cover up, is investigated by the local police by Lieutenant Duff (Christopher Walken).

Chistopher Walken is absolutely brilliant in his role as Lt. McDuff, which either because of his style, or past performances, is only enhanced by the writing which Morrissette brings to the script and results in absolutely hysterical laughter from the audience. The soundtrack is perfectly fitting with both the modern and older elements brought into the film with an inspired mixture of classical works and classic rock songs from the seventies. Though Scotland, PA is an exceptional movie, it could have been improved to remove the dragging feeling in several areas during the funeral scenes and introduction. Casting for the film could have been improved by the replacement of Maura Tierney as Pat McBeth as her performance degrades the overall quality of the picture. The adaptation of the three witches of MacBeth with the three hippies of the 1970s is just one example of the quality of the adaption made by Morrissette. Despite the difficulties within it, Scotland, PA remains a cinematic marvel worthy of Shakespeare and, if this first film is any indication of what should be expected in the future, a work very likely to launch Billy Morrissette out of the obscure independent film world and into Hollywood as Clerks did for Kevin Smith.

Tags: 2001, adapted from a play, billy morrissette, christopher walken, comedy, independent, james legros, kevin smith, macbeth, maura tierney, scotland, william shakespeare

This entry was posted on June 17, 2004 at 11:30 pm and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.