Jude Law, Hamlet As Hunk, Yoga, Olympic Sprinter (These Are Not Necessarily Good Things)

Richard Burton played Hamlet on Broadway, and was nominated for a Tony for his performance (but didn’t win). Ralph Fiennes played Hamlet on Broadway too, and won a Tony. Now it’s Jude Law’s turn, the 10th Broadway Hamlet since the Tonys were inaugurated.

If critics could still vote on the Tonys, he might not get it

Ben Brantley of The New York Times: “ Mr. Law approaches his role with the focus, determination and adrenaline level of an Olympic track competitor staring down an endless line of hurdles. Hold your breath, sports fans! Here’s Mr. Law, lithe and taut, bracing himself for that first tricky soliloquy…
“People who ask for a little introspection from the man whose name is a byword for that activity may find it perplexing that this Hamlet never seems to look inward, which means that he never grows up…
“If Hamlet talks about his mind, you can bet that Mr. Law will point to his forehead; when he mentions the heavens, his arm shoots straight up; and when the guy says his gorge rises, rest assured that he clutches at his stomach. If every actor were like Mr. Law, signed performances for the hard of hearing would be unnecessary.”

Peter Marks of the Washington Post:
“As with the flawed “A Steady Rain” that is playing a block away with Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig, movie wattage may be radiance enough…But if you’re looking for an evening that provides anything close to a fresh perspective on the play, you’re likely to have your hopes dashed but good.”

David Cote of Time Out New York: Wags in the audience could nickname Jude Law’s rendition “Yoga Hamlet,” seeing as how the lean movie star pads about the stage barefoot in stretchy pants and a clingy T-shirt, often squatting and lunging with the sinewy ease of a Bikram vet… But for all the surface glamour of Law’s portrayal, his vocal delivery is solidly plugged into Hamlet’s rage and anguish. If anything, Law starts out too overwrought, moaning and gnawing through the great soliloquies as if they were causing him intestinal distress. Yet we listen closely to him, and he holds court at the center of his scenes with an intensity, intelligence and awestruck wonder that puts most Hamlets I’ve seen to shame.”

Elysa Gardner of USA Today: “His Hamlet is no brooding philosopher/prince; he’s an angry young man, a bundle of nerves forever threatening to explode. But Law also captures the more tender feelings and contradictions that make this tortured hero at once elusive and essentially human, particularly in his soliloquies, which are both muscular and exquisitely lyrical.”

Linda Winer of Newsday: Law “commands virtually every scene in this downtown-black, modern-dress production. He has a focused, varied voice to go with his delicately chiseled fox-face features, and a lithe physical power that propels him from spotlight to spotlight with the effortless virtuosity of a Shakespearean action hero.”

Elisabeth Vincentelli of the New York Post: “Law seems a bit mannered at first, holding his arms at a rigid angle, as if manipulating invisible marionettes. But as he warms up, he projects a brooding intensity that befits a character obsessed with vengeance. And in the daunting soliloquies he combines seemingly contradictory qualities of self-doubt and ardor.”