Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead [DVD]

The two leads, Gary Oldman and Tim Roth make a great pairing, with Oldman expressing a rarely seen gift for comedy - his performance here is almost reminscinent of Stan Laurel. Both cope admirably with Stoppard's dialogue, which incorporates some dizzying verbal sparring. The tennis match alone is nearly worth the price of entry.

This is a film that succeeds largely on the strength of its premise and on it's finely honed sense of wit. It's definitely a film that makes intellectual rather than emotional appeals, but I find no reason to fault it because of that. It's a unique journey that I rate most highly.

Gary Oldman and Tim Roth make a superb comedy double-act. Oldman in particular shows a great talent for comedy acting.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern bemusedly exist in a world constructed by Shakespeare, not knowing why they are here or how they got here. Throughout the film they struggle to make sense of their existence and the things that go on around them. But there is no real meaning to their being, they've merely been plonked into the world to speak a few lines in Hamlet at the appropriate times.

Oldman's playful idiot and Roth's questioning mind will keep you entertained from start to finish. You'll be sorry if you miss this!

Okay, now I've got that off my chest, I'll concentrate on the good stuff. There is no way you've come to this page by accident. I used to rent this movie from the video place. Repeatedly. That copy is not very good anymore, since it's the only copy they've got. Now I've got it on DVD, so someone can rent the one at the video place for a change.

I don't know how many times I've seen this. It remains as fascinating and as clever as the first time I saw it. It stays the same masterpiece it was when it was released the first time.

But if you've come to this page by accident, this is the best movie ever made. Funniest, cleverest, most unpredictable, most intriguing. It is well acted, well written, totally immersive. Pure genius. If you're not convinced, rent it. You will want to see it again and again. Even more so than "The Usual Suspects".

If you buy only one movie on DVD, this should be it. It gets five stars, even without any extras on the disk.