at already?"). The use of celebrity guests in minor parts found in Branaughs Hamlet really gives the movie good character. Charlton Heston makes a good Player King, and Billy Crystal - though somewhat incongruous - is a fair choice for the gravedigger. Jack Lemmon and Robin Williams, however, simply distract as Marcellus and Osric. Branagh is perhaps not the strongest of the three filmed Hamlets I've seen, but then his job was more difficult. After all, without cutting the play it's impossible to smooth over the character's rough edges and make him more explicable - if Branagh falters, it's because of the extremely difficult contradictions inherent in the part. All the other major parts are perfectly done, with Derek Jacobi's dignified Claudius outdone only by Richard Brier's finely judged Polonius. Julie Christie and Kate Winslett get the difficult job of making Gertrude and Ophelia forces in the play, and both succeed. For once we even have a decent Horatio (Nicholas Farrell)....
