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One of the many wonders of Shakespeare is the ease with which several of his best plays transcend their original time and place. "Romeo and Juliet" becomes "West Side Story," the noble Othello morphs into a high school basketball star in the recent film adaptation "O," and "Macbeth" travels from medieval Scotland to feudal Japan in Akira Kurosawa's "Throne of Blood." ‘Scotland, PA.,’ a ‘Macbeth’
rewrite, is a pleasant
and mildly funny filmBy John Berger
jberger@starbulletin.comDirector-writer Billy Morrissette moves "Macbeth" to a small town in modern America and creates yet another variation on the classic tragedy with "Scotland, PA."
The year is 1972, give or take a month or two. Pat and Joe "Mac" McBeth are the loyal and hardworking employees of Norm Duncan's, a restaurant owner who plans to turn his old-fashioned diner into the nucleus of a cutting-edge fast-food empire. Duncan, however, is better as a visionary than as a master of his domain. When Mac exposes a manager's money-skimming scheme, Duncan's oldest son, Malcolm, is the one promoted to fill the vacancy, even though he has no interest in running the restaurant.
Malcolm's promotion leaves Mac, Pat and their best friend, Anthony "Banko" Banconi, seemingly doomed to soldier on as drudges for life. A chance encounter with some dope-smoking hippies starts Mac reassessing his options after they inform him that he will become proprietor of Duncan's restaurant, and allude to a new idea in food service: the drive-through.
Rated R "SCOTLAND, PA."
Playing at Signature Dole Cannery
A night later, Duncan tells the McBeths about his plans to expand and modernize his culinary kingdom. Pat takes the lead in pushing Mac to claim his destiny by any means.
Norm Duncan meets a bizarre death. Malcolm and his younger brother, Donald, a stereotypical high school thespian, sell the restaurant to the McBeths. Pat and Mac quickly make the place over, using Duncan's ideas and some of their own, including chicken pieces with dipping sauce, combo meals all named Mc-something and a truck that cruises the town distributing free addictive fries. McBeth's becomes a hit, and the brother and sister move from a crumbling shack to a solid pseudo-upper-class home.
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Enter Lt. Ernie McDuff, police detective and staunch vegetarian, who arrives from Scotland to investigate Duncan's death. Andy, a homeless guy, was found wearing Duncan's jewelry the morning after the murder but can't be placed at the scene of the crime. Malcolm becomes a prime suspect when McDuff learns that Malcolm and his father had a violent argument the night Duncan was killed. When McDuff apprehends Malcolm in Atlantic City, he discovers there may be a hole or two in the McBeths' alibi. Like, is it possible the couple left the big Yahtzee party earlier than they said they did?The outcome of McDuff's investigation is not in doubt, but Morrissette's reworking of "Macbeth" is a pleasant and mildly funny film that doesn't try too hard to impress with its cleverness. There are enough throwaway lines, simple sight gags, double-entendres and bizarre bits to make the proceedings entertaining.
A few references to early-1970s icons, a solid collection of rock hits from the era and some great examples of pop fashion excesses are all sufficient to establish the cultural milieu and define the breadth of this modern comedy.
Christopher Walken is the most recognizable actor and well cast as the unlikely detective. James Legros and Maura Tierney are appealing as the dynamic but doomed McBeths.
Morrissette, who wisely avoids the temptation to redo "Macbeth" scene by scene, reworks the relationships so that the McBeths win our sympathy; Banko Banconi is much more a bystander and the hippies less involved in creating the circumstances that lead to McBeth's destruction.
"Scotland, PA." succeeds most in its portrayal of an odd but almost believable town, one not so far removed from reality that it's impossible to imagine a similar scenario being played out somewhere in small-town America.
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