It is fairly simple to follow along in the book while watching the 1990 movie version of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. The play in text written by Tom Stoppard and published in 1967 is a mere 126 pages long while the movie lasts one hour and 52 minutes.

     Just as the book, the movie begins with 'Ros' and 'Guil' playing a coin toss and discussing the Laws of Probability and Averages; where the coin consistently lands on heads. Guil reflects on the idea that, “time has stopped dead (pg 16),” which leads into the plot where time and death are always in question. The two characters, in trying to remember how they got to where ever they are, eventually determine that they are messengers who were sent for by the king of Denmark. They are quickly encountered by a band of Tragedians led by “The Player,” who is also called Alfred, which differs from the book (pg 21). Alfred is played by famous actor Richard Dreyfus.

     Guil and Ros get “caught up in the action” of Hamlet when they win a coin toss where, for the first time, the coin lands on tails. Once the movie turns to the part of Hamlet it can be difficult to follow along with the text. The story suddenly skips from page 31 to page 35 and continues to skip around through the remainder of the film. For example, the movie skips pages 85-108 of the book then, skips back to page 102 where Rosencrantz cry's because Hamlet