In what has to be one of the cleverest, most unusual movies of all time, two characters from "Hamlet" wander into the play and try to figure out what to do. These guys are clearly having a great time with the material, and the movie affirms Gary Oldman, Tim Roth and Richard Dreyfuss as some of the greatest actors of our time. "Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead" is definitely one that I recommend. I should admit that I've never seen any version of "Hamlet" the whole way through - except a really terrible German TV version that appeared on "Mystery Science Theater 3000" - so I don't actually know the characters' roles in that play, but I still enjoyed this movie 100%. Really good.

I would expect a heavy object to fall more quickly than a light object.

Rosencrantz (Gary Oldman) and Guildenstern (Tim Roth) are two minor characters in William Shakespeare's play Hamlet. Here they are the main characters. Rosencrantz flips coins which constantly comes up heads and Guildenstern assumes a problem with reality. They come upon a traveling troupe of actors led by (Richard Dreyfuss). Rosencrantz and Guildenstern suddenly find themselves in the castle at Elsinore and they encounter the characters from the Hamlet play.

As a comedy, the jokes are wordy and eventually wears thin. There is a fascination with taking the two side characters and watching the play from slightly off center stage. The verbal tennis game is fun at first. One must also be familiar with Hamlet. This is a fascinating concept but it does not really work as a movie.

Two minor characters (Tim Roth and Gary Oldman) from the play "Hamlet" stumble around unaware of their scripted lives and unable to deviate from them.

Hamlet has been told time and time again, in countless films, television adaptations, theater performances. Not that this is a bad thing, but one thing the world hardly needs is another Hamlet adaptation. Luckily, this is not one of them, but rather a very clever send-up. Why not tell the same story from another character's point of view? And for laughs, let us choose the two most silly characters.

Better yet, let us cast two of the greatest actors ever. With all due respect to Richard Dreyfus, who also appears here, Roth and Oldman are among the best out there and to see them team up is something of a dream.