SOURCE: Welsh, Jim. Review of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Literature/Film Quarterly 27, no. 2 (1999): 159-61.

In the following review, Welsh compares Michael Hoffman's 1999 film adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream to the 1935 Max Reinhardt-William Dieterle film production. The critic contends that the more recent version of the play is generally less compelling, despite the success of Calista Flockhart's Helena.

Does Hollywood love Shakespeare, as some have suggested, or does Hollywood simply love Shakespeare in Love? John Madden's film was a surprise success, both at the box office and at the Academy Awards. Shakespeare in Love was made on a budget of $38 million and took in over $68 million in domestic revenues. Hollywood “loves” Shakespeare because Hollywood loves money, and Shakespeare in Love won the Oscar jackpot. Hence the current “Bard Boom” has little to do with the real Shakespeare and a whole lot to do with speculative greed.

In 1998 the...