Shakespeare in Love

Cast, Etc.
Dir. John Madden, Joseph Fiennes, Gwyneth Paltrow, Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Judi Dench, Tom Wilkinson, Ben Affleck, Simon Callow, score by Stephen Warbeck, rated R, 1998

Synopsis
William Shakespeare writes "Romeo and Juliet."

Review
There has been a Shakespeare revival of sorts lately; it seems that the Bard is more "in vogue" than has been in recent memory. As if prompted by this, director John Madden (no, not the football guy, although how cool would a running commentary by him be?) brings us the story of the Bard at the height of his powers as he struggles to complete a new play. William Shakespeare (Fiennes) has writer's block; Phillip Henslowe (Rush), the owner of the theatre, is in debt; and it seems that the entire theatre distric is under scrutiny for licentiousness. Enter in Lady Viola (Paltrow), a theatre lover who wishes to act, but of course is forbidden because she's a woman. She decides to dress as a man and infiltrate the Rose theatre to fulfill her dream to act. There she meets Shakespeare and, of course, they fall in love, and she becomes his inspiration to write "Romeo and Juliet," which apparently started out in Henslowe's mind as "Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate's Daughter." What follows is at sometimes a dumbing down of Shakespeare for the masses and at others a very nice tribute to the Bard and his works, with enough historical events thrown in to make it seem as if this actually could have been the way it happened. And who knows? Maybe it did, but that's really not the point of the film. This film is about love, and what better play to set it against than the greatest love story of all time? Fiennes gives a good peformance as the writer from Stratford going through (and becoming more human by doing so) all the troubles that writers go through in crafting their art. The mere notion that Shakespeare could have writer's block (or has "lost his Muse", as he puts it) is extremely funny. Paltrow pulls of an English accent very well and gives a good "dual" performance as Lady Viola and Thomas Kent, her guise under which she acts. The supporting cast is extremely good, from Rush as the owner to Wilkinson as "the money" to Dench as Queen Elizabeth. The script was very well written, packing a lot of "Shakespeare" into it while not actually quoting the Bard. There are also quite a few moments of "aha!" as some origins of classic lines are mentioned in passing. The basic storyline is itself a rip-off/tribute to the Bard with people concealing their gender and then being revealed for better or worse. The culminating seqence of the play actually being performed is wonderful, as we see the part-ragtag, part-professional actor cast come together to give a fine performance that, even though we don't get to see the entire play, brings tears to the eye in its tribute.

Highlights
the script; Fiennes and Paltrow; Affleck as Ned; Dench as the Queen; the performance

Rating
I give this film a blush wine rating; it's very full and emotional, but still light enough to laugh. As a romantic comedy/drama, it's very good. As a Shakespeare-inspired film, it's also quite good. The villain of Lord Wessex, to whom Viola is to be married, is very good-arrogant and condescending as all good English lords should be. The score by Warbeck fits the action quite well.