Matrixston Wow! Such a good movie.

Stometer Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Livestonth I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

SeeQuant Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

mark.waltz While this deals with the creation of "Romeo and Juliet", in some eyes his very best play, this is really a story of deception, a la Yentl, a la "As You Like It". This is about the desires of a young lady (Gwyneth Paltrow) who desired to act and disguised herself as a boy to play the part of Romeo, ironically opposite a young male actor as Juliet. In the process, she falls in love with Shakespeare (the dashing Joseph Fiennes) and while he returns her feelings, he uses elements of their relationship to finish the play. A jealous suitor becomes Mercutio; her nurse (Imelda Staunton) becomes Juliet's nurse, and various personal tragedies guide the conclusion, leading to a triumph....or does it?Perfect in every detail, this Oscar winning best picture features a great cast in smaller parts, most notably the Oscar winning Judi Dench as the imperious Queen Elizabeth II, basically a cameo, but a commanding one. There's some ironic cameos as well, including "Downton Abbey's" Carson (Jim Carter) as the actor playing the nurse, and deep down the cast list, "Are You Being Served?"'s Mr. Humphreys (John Inman). Geoffrey rush, Simon Callow and Ben Affleck are just a sample of the incredible cast. There's humor, tension, sexism galore (a historical fact of the times) and lush music, photography and art direction. I'm glad this just presents the facts (fictional or not) and leaves the point of view to the audience decide.

zkonedog After reading a piece of historical fiction regarding the life of William Shakespeare, I figured I would give this Academy Award-winning film a try while inspired. Unfortunately, what I found was very nearly a complete and utter mess of comedy trying to be mixed with serious themes.For a basic plot summary, "Shakespeare in Love" weaves the tale of the creation of William Shakespeare's (Joseph Fiennes) "Romeo & Juliet" with his strikingly similar romance to Viola De Lesseps (Gwyneth Paltrow).There are so many things wrong with this production that I wonder where to even begin. Here are the things that really turned me off the most:-I'm not Shakespeare historian, to be sure, but the plot of this movie seems like complete fiction to me (a real-life romance inspiring "Romeo & Juliet"). If someone can tell me if this has any basis in fact, please let me know, as I would be very interested. As it were, I could not separate the great play from this cheap effort to produce concurrent narratives. -You can't play Shakespeare off as a goof! Mr. Fiennes may be a better actor in other roles, but he completely lacks the gravitas to play The Bard. -More to the above point, director John Madden is unable to find a medium between comedy and drama. This movie had to be either one or the other, and instead it ends up being neither. In my mind, Shakespeare either has to be taken reverently or be given the "life and times" approach, looking at him from a real-life perspective. This film does neither. He's a bumbling fool from beginning to end and somehow magically happens to put together this wonderful play. -Don't even get me started on the casting. Ben Affleck is a joke, among others, while I would say that only Paltrow turns in a decent performance from the entire lot.I guess what it came down to for me, then, was the fact that I couldn't "buy in" to the notion of "Romeo & Juliet" being inspired by a real-life romance. That seemed like too much of a reach for me. It is mind-boggling to me, in hindsight, that this film snagged the Oscar over "Saving Private Ryan". Talking about your Shakespearean tragedy (!).

Sam smith (sam_smithreview) Don't be afraid of the word Shakespeare in the title! This movie is not a junior-high history lesson. It's light, funny, romantic, and a totally irreverent look at Elizabethan England.The screenplay is brilliant. The best writing in a movie I've seen this year. The idea is that Shakespeare is not some grave, great poet, but a young guy trying to make his way in the theater. He's written good plays, but nothing truly transcendent. The conceit is that an ill- fated romance--the one great true love of this life-- with a beautiful, smart woman is what inspires him to write his first immortal play: Romeo and Juliet.In this era of world-exploding auctioneers and cookie-cutter Adam Sandler movies, it's rare to see such a specific, ingenious, and inspired story for a film.The best part about this movie is its sense of humor. It plays with history, takes a great man abut whom we know almost nothing, and creates a fantasy about his life that is totally outrageous, funny and real.Also, the movie is really romantic. The costumes are lush, the leads look great and have real chemistry together. I used to think that Gwyneth was overrated, but here she's radiant. And Joe Fiennes has an intensity and a vulnerability, as well as a sense of humor, that I for one find sorely lacking in his older brother Ralph.Needless to say, this is the best date movie of the year. Women take note: I am a red-blooded straight American male, and I loved it. Take your boyfriends to see this movie. It will make up for you forcing them to sit through The Piano.

oOoBarracuda The 1998 Best Picture Winner, Shakespeare in Love has suffered from the "didn't deserve it" curse. Sometimes, a movie is remembered not on its own merits, but on what it beat out for Oscar's top prize. I have been guilty of this before as well; it took me until I was 27 years old to see Forrest Gump because I was so distraught at the fact that it beat out Pulp Fiction and Network for Best Picture. I've tried not to put movies in this purgatory anymore, but it still happens. For instance, I hardly ever meet someone who has seen How Green Was My Valley, yet I meet a lot of people who scoff that John Ford's magical piece beat out Citizen Kane in the eyes of the Academy. John Madden's feature, starring Geoffrey Rush, Joseph Fiennes, and Gwyneth Paltrow is not immune to this phenomenon. Unfortunately, Shakespeare in Love, the story of the Bard finding his muse and writing his most revered play, is more remembered as the bandit that stole Best Picture from Saving Private Ryan. A struggling poet and amateur playwright, Will Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes) is grappling with a severe case of writer's block. Having already sold a play to theater operator Philip Henslowe (Geoffrey Rush), he is racing against the deadline of opening night to have something to give to both the operator of the theater and the audience. He needs the love of a woman to inspire him to write the romance expected of him, but every attempt to find her has proved futile. Meanwhile, Viola De Lesseps (Gwyneth Paltrow) a beautiful admirer of theater and fan of Shakespeare's wants nothing more than to act. Since only men are allowed to act in theater, Viola takes on the identity of a fictitious Thomas Kent, dresses as a man, and auditions and is accepted for a part in Shakespeare's next play. Wil sees through her ruse and falls in love with the woman behind the mustache. The two begin a love affair tainted with the knowledge that Wil is married, and Viola has been promised to Lord Wessex. Eventually realizing their union will never endure, the two go on, promising to forever love the other. Viola enters her marriage to Lord Wessex; Wil, finally attaining his muse, goes on to write his next play. The true treat of this film is its screenplay. This clever, well- written script will have you roped in from the first scene. Marc Norman, Tom Stoppard deserve accolades and were totally deserving for their statuettes for Best Original Screenplay. Aside from how well it was written, the story is very interesting as well. Even though Shakespeare's works are read in high schools throughout the world, very little thought is put into the love life of the man behind the great romances. Costumes were another brilliant treat from this film. Granted, it seems as though period pieces always take home top prize from the Academy, there was the added pressure of also designing costumes to be used as costumes, as much of the scenes comprised of the actors rehearsing the play Shakespeare was writing. Every garment worn by the actors looked uniquely Victorian and produced a well-deserved gold statuette for costume designer Sandy Powell. This film, much like the English Patient, deserves to be viewed on its own merit, and accepted as a fine piece of filmmaking, regardless of the other films that came out the same year. Shakespeare in Love is a drama and a romance but never gets bogged down by either genre. There are playful moments abound within the film, making it all the more engaging for the audience. My favorite scene of this nature takes place in a bar; Wil is depressed over his writer's block and bumps into revered playwright Christopher Marlowe who gives Shakespeare advice for his play. The authorship of works credited to Shakespeare is heavily debated in some circles with many, myself included believing Marlowe to be the true author. It was a fun nod the film took to recognize this and incorporate it into the film. What was also fun was the repeated allusions throughout the film to other works of Shakespeare's, most notably Twelfth Night. Being a fan of works attributed to Shakespeare it was fun to see these nods within the film; these allusions also made it easier to forgive the historical inaccuracies wrought throughout the film as well. Shakespeare in Love is a fun look at the inner workings of possibly the most famous playwright to have ever lived. The film is beautiful to watch and captivating due to the exceptional screenplay and costumes. I urge audiences to view Shakespeare in Love, on its own merits; I wager you will be pleasantly surprised. Shakespeare in Love is so much more than "the film that beat Saving Private Ryan". If given the chance, audiences will fall in love with Shakespeare in Love.