Scotland, PA (2001)

Scotland, PA: Directed by Billy Morrissette. With James Le Gros, Maura Tierney, Christopher Walken, Kevin Corrigan. A modernized retelling of “MacBeth” set in 1970s suburban Pennsylvania. Joe McBeth, an unambitious hamburger stand employee, is driven to success by his scheming wife.

“Scotland, PA (2001)u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWhat a terrific farce. And homage to the Shake. And campy fun movie.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAdvice? 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.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAnd the acting is great. Playing Lady MacBeth (one of Shakespeareu0026#39;s greatest characters) as Pat McBeth, is Maura Tierney, and sheu0026#39;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.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe setting—the kingdom—is a drive-up restaurant, a burger joint, called Duncanu0026#39;s. Duncan (Tome Guiry) is the u0026quot;kingu0026quot; 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 donu0026#39;t know Shakespeare. In fact, you need to feel comfortable diving into this funny gem of a movie even if you donu0026#39;t know a thing about the original story. It stands on its own.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eA terrific surprise.”