Tied for the best movie I have ever seen

Best movie ever!

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

Scotland, PA (2001)What a terrific farce. And homage to the Shake. And campy fun movie.Advice? Read a synopsis of MacBeth first—the play, the original Shakespeare drama that this movie is based on. There is no Elizabethan language in this thorough update of Lady MacBeth and crew, but the plot is kind of sort of the same. Only different in all the right ways.And the acting is great. Playing Lady MacBeth (one of Shakespeare's greatest characters) as Pat McBeth, is Maura Tierney, and she's terrific—the disdain, sass, savvy, and brooding are all perfect pitch. And matching her as the detective now called Lieutenant McDuff is Christopher Walken in his usual dry, subtle mode. The rest of the cast is nearly as good (the one sorry exception is the James Le Gros as Mr. McBeth), and the compact scenes click along with peculiar twists and little odd background pranks all through. You have to watch closely.The setting—the kingdom—is a drive-up restaurant, a burger joint, called Duncan's. Duncan (Tome Guiry) is the "king" and if you know MacBeth you know he is doomed. The fight for relevance in this little place is comic in itself, even if you don't know Shakespeare. In fact, you need to feel comfortable diving into this funny gem of a movie even if you don't know a thing about the original story. It stands on its own.A terrific surprise.

The name of Bad Company's greatest hits album is called "10 From 6". You could have just turned up this album and cut the sound on this movie. Most of the songs played in the movie were from this album. I guess oldsters during the 1970s were probably tired of all the period pieces made then about the 1930s and 1940s. That's how I feel about movies made about the 1970s. The characters in the movie looked like they were auditioning for Danny Terrio. Why is it that movies have to exaggerate the 1970s. The only good period piece I liked was "Freaks and Geeks". They cut that television show. It was exactly like things were in high school when I was there back circa 1980. I was old enough to remember the 70s and no small town was like this. It was totally youth dominated. There were no reactionaries talking about the hippies and about the inner city of Philly. That was more the 70s that I remember as a kid. This movie was very dull and cheesy. At times, I was falling asleep. I don't know why an actor who was acting during the 70s, appeared in this one. He was probably trying to lend it some credibility. Walken didn't even show up until the second half. I guess the only true thing about the movie was the "baby boomers" were/are a spoiled lot. All the kids in the movie were spoiled brats. I don't know what they had against their father.

The story of MacBeth is of course one of Shakespeare's classics. The tale of one of the king's generals who is told by three witches that he will become king. So he does, by murdering King Duncan, with the help of his wife, Lady MacBeth.In this modern re-telling, Norm Duncan (James Rebhorn) is not really a king, but is the burger magnate of Scotland, Pa. His cook and right hand man is Joe McBeth (James LeGros), and the head waitress is Joe's wife, Pat (Maura Tierney). Joe is not approached by three witches, but by the vision of three 'hippies' (Amy Smart, Tim Levitch, and Andy Dick). My favorite character was Lieutenant McDuff (Christopher Walken) who shows up to investigate the crime.I believe many will not like "Scotland, Pa.". It is a bit whimsical, a very dark comedy, but for me it was very entertaining. If for no other reason than to see how the Shakespeare classic can be adapted to modern settings and values.SPOILERS. Unhappy with their subordinate roles, Joe and Pat plot to kill Duncan. They aren't very good at this, but after injuring him badly with a frying pan across the head, Duncan stumbles and falls partially into the hot deep fryer, and that is his method of death. Money is missing from the safe so police think it was a robbery, and various locals become suspects. However, when McDuff shows up he begins to suspect the McBeths. McDuff eventually wins the battle of wits. Once again, we see that crime doesn't pay!

Spoilers herein.Projects like this do not derive from their source as much as reference them. Therefore, you really have to know the source in order to appreciate what has been done. A fast food idea (one which actually spawned a trillion dollar industry) instead of a monarchy? A grease burn for a bloody hand? An accidental death (after ineptly planning murder) in place of a careful plot? It all depends on what you see in the source.I don't consider `MacBeth' one of Shakespeare's better tragedies. The man had a particular ax to grind: a rude Scot had just become king, one with an unnatural fear of the supernatural and a non-northern Catholic notion of fate. The play works at several simultaneous levels, most barely subliminal.Yes, the trailer trash thing works. And the fast food thing works, at least for me. And they can have their tone which mocks the original; this _is_ the age of irony after all and it makes sense to side with the trash.But the dissonance is in the handling of the witches. MacBeth's witches were real, deeply sexual, penetrating the blood of all the characters. They cause, not just see. The witches in `Scotland' are something the credits call `hippies,' which I suppose is the gen-X writer‘s term for stoners. These guys are comic, possessed, ordinary people. That takes all the gas out of this for me.Want to see cool adaptations of Shakespeare? See the Ethan Hawke `Hamlet.' Absolutely right on translation: Hammy and his buddies as film students. Or Godard's `King Lear' with Woody Allen as the Fool.Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.