Scotland, Pa.

Shakespeare’s Macbeth, played out in a fast-food restaurant in a small Pennsylvania town in the 1970’s.

I’m not a Shakespeare fan. That said, I always found Macbeth one of his more enjoyable plays. Here, writer-director Billy Morrissette adds a novel twist by placing the story in an unlikely setting. The setup has a lot of potential. Throw in a reasonably talented cast including Christopher Walken as McDuff, and you’ve got a recipe for success right?

Well, in this case, not exactly. This movie can’t seem to make up it’s mind between what the play is (a dark story about the danger of greed), and the type of movie the director wants to make (a black comedy). The result is a very dark movie with bits of comedy thrown in that don’t seem to fit.

There are a few moments, however, when the director’s vision and the source do seem to gel, a good example is MacBeth’s visit to the witches (who are hippies in this version), but sadly these moments are few and far between.