The Seven Sides of Shakespeare

But the bigger problem is that the movie never dives into what makes Shamrock McShane tick. By exclusively focusing on his stage life via Shakespeare, one never begins to understand who he is or why he made the decisions he did. Where did he come from, and what drove him to be an actor? Why did he move south versus either L.A. or N.Y.C. to pursue his obvious passion for the craft? Was he happy as a school teacher? For that matter, what did he teach? If it is drama, did that at all help fulfill his desire to act?

While in the middle of producing Macbeth, McShane mentions that his wife of two decades (approximately) decides to leave him. What was happening off stage that led to her decision? Aside from throwing himself into the play with abandon as a distraction, the way it changed him or his emotional demeanor towards his fellow actors is never discussed. Does he regret not fighting harder to make it work? Does McShane consider it a good thing, as he, too, had fallen out of love?

“…McShane proves a solid actor and Miller is a master with sound.”

If one only becomes aware of Shamrock McShane via this movie, that question is impossible to answer. And therein lies the rub. While a lot of this information is probably known to the audience who initially saw this in its local theater run, neither McShane nor Miller have that same relationship with everybody in the world. And when this gets distributed and released on a platform, that is who will be able to watch it. As such, not filling in the details that those in Gainesville took for granted hinders the picture in almost every way.

By the time the extraordinarily long runtime of an hour and 50 minutes concluded, I had the same thought as I did at the start: why should I, or anyone watching, care about Shamrock McShane? Well, The Seven Sides of Shakespeare fails to provide a reason, meaning the drama of the Bard’s plays and McShane’s personal life are not felt as intended. Combine that with the sledgehammer style and goofy nature of the visuals, and it is obvious that this is not worth your time. Quite frankly, that is a shame as McShane proves a solid actor and Miller is a master with sound. Still, two positives do not a good film make.