Coriolanus
Director: Ralph Fiennes
Year Released: 2011
Rating: 2.0
A powerful general (Fiennes, pulling double duty here) - who's honored for defending Rome - is banished from his own kingdom (for reasons never fully plausible except to move the story forward) and teams up with his arch-nemesis (Gerard Butler) to attack the city (before Mommy steps in to change his mind once again). Fiennes, as a first-time filmmaker, is a bit inexperienced, and much of this is over-heated and over-directed. I realize it's popular to "update" Shakespeare to current times - in the theatre and in film (like Almereyda's Hamlet and Luhrmann's Romeo and Juliet) - but to me, hearing the Bard's specific and unique language in a modern-day setting (Fiennes filmed this in Serbia) has always come across as artificial and grating (which might make me something of a purist...).
