Lara Gilchrist

Bruce Ramsay's film is a noirish adaptation of the Bard's classic, stripped for speed and steeped in claustrophobic angst. As Hamlet, Ramsay expresses a tortured pensiveness that's entirely appropriate to the material; alternating between swallowing his own words and flinging them at his family and friends, he seems to be reeling from his own personality. It's a complex physical demonstration of Shakespeare's theme of the divided self. Other cast standouts include Peter Wingfield as Claudius, exuding cold opacity and calculation until his tortured soliloquy; Russell Roberts as the angry Ghost; and Lara Gilchrist as poor Ophelia. Her relationship with Hamlet is given a modern sexual charge in Ramsay's version; the wordless opening sequence of the film culminates in an explosion of passion that, in its secrecy and volatility, acts as an emotional pr cis for what follows. There are no exteriors in this adaptation; Ramsay has chosen claustrophobia as his motif, and the constricted space cranks up the tension, highlighting the internal and social conflicts. The superb production design evokes the forties, and the cinematography is full of subtle shadowing laid on top of a palette of brown, black and white. Here's a Shakespeare movie without a hint of the stasis or transparent, intermittent opening up effects that plague so many of its predecessors. Ramsay honours the text in beautifully filmic terms.

The trailer for Goodnight for Justice which is now available on DVD and will premiere on the Hallmark Movie Channel on May 9th at 6 PM. John Goodnight has a crystal clear memory of the day that his family fell victim to ruthless outlaws. He and the wife of Circuit Judge Aldous Shaw were the only survivors of the attack; she would become his foster mother. Goodnight cannot forget the corrupt man who destroyed his family and he lives for a second chance encounter with the outlaw. After Goodnight has a rocky start as a solicitor, the Governor swears him in as the Western Territories next Circuit Judge. Goodnight travels the West seeking protection for the innocent, until one fateful day, when his journey takes him to a place that is all too familiar. Starring Luke Perry, directed by Jason Priestley.

Luke on how John Goodnight became the man he is in an interview for Goodnight for Justice.

Jason Priestley and Luke Perry talk about working together on Goodnight for Justice.