Coriolanus Directed by: Ralph Fiennes Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Gerard Butler, Vanessa Redgrave Rating: R Release Date: December 2, 2011
TRAILER SCORE: 7/10
Thoughts by TSR: Fiennes directs this Shakespeare film about war with a contemporary setting and some pretty cool actors. Butler, Brian Cox and James Nesbitt (who I love) play tough soldiers fighting in... Iraq? Afghanistan? Probably some fictional Middle East setting. They look tough and sexy, not your usual stuffy Shakespearen actors. To hammer home the point, the trailer makes it clear the screenwriter also wrote "The Last Samurai" and "Gladiator." This isn't your parents' Shakespeare. That's what the marketers want you to believe anyway.
Still the trailer works. I like the cast, the action looks good, and the allure of Butler doing Shakespeare shouldn't be discounted. Admittedly, I'm not familiar with this play, some of the lesser known works have inspired weird movies (I'm thinking of Julie Taymor's disturbing Titus.) I'm not sure if the movie will be good, but it really looks interesting.