There's a reason this is a lesser-known Shakespeare play...

Rating: 4/10 (15 August 2014)

There's a reason this is a lesser-known Shakespeare play: the plot is pretty dull and pointless. Ostensibly a revenge movie, the movie starts very slowly and tiresomely. It sketches the background, Coriolanus' career and rise to power. After the reversal of fortune it looks like the movie is going to kick into another gear, and it does, briefly. After this temporary entertainment, it subsides with a whimper.
I didn't mind the modern setting, and thought director Ralph Fiennes did a good job in modernizing the play. However, I also felt that some of the plot didn't translate well into the modern day, especially the speed of communication and news.
(Aside: as a great example of how to modernize a Shakespeare play see Richard Loncraine's 1995 version of Richard III. Richard III is, however, a much more interesting drama to begin with...).
The wordiness of it all (it is Shakespeare, after all) also slows things down, and doesn't help the dullness factor.
Good performance by Ralph Fiennes in the lead role. Gerard Butler, whom I generally don't rate as an actor, puts in a fine performance as Aufidius. The most powerful performance, however, comes from Vanessa Redgrave as Coriolanus' mother.
Good support from Brian Cox. Jessica Chastain seems a bit out of her element in a Shakespeare play.
Hard to dislike Shakespeare, so this is a rarity.