Director: John Madden
Writers: Marc Norman & Tom Stoppard
Will Shakespeare: Joseph Fiennes
Viola De Lesseps: Gwyneth Paltrow
Philip Henslowe: Geoffrey Rush
Queen Elizabeth: Judi Dench
Lord Wessex: Colin Firth
Ned Alleyn: Ben Affleck |
Appropriately released in time for Valentine's Day, "Shakespeare In Love" is a funny, passionate and ultimately moving fictional account of how William Shakespeare came to write the play that really put him on the map in the 1590s and thereafter - "Romeo and Juliet".
Will (Joseph Fiennes) is having trouble writing his latest play - "Romeo and Ethel, The Pirate's Daugher". Enter Lady Viola De Lessups (Gwyneth Paltrow), a wealthy young woman, desperate to become an actor. She disguises herself as a young man - women are forbidden to act on stage - and wins the role of Romeo. Will discovers her secret, falls madly in love and once more the poetry flows from his pen. The play is re-titled "Romeo and Juliet" and art begins to imitate life.
The script is intelligent and witty. One of the great delights of "Shakespeare In Love", is the successful interweaving of 1990s sentiments with Elizabethan language and setting. Robert Henslowe, wonderfully brought to life by Geoffrey Rush, is introduced as a theatre manager with a "cash flow problem". Ben Affleck reveals a lively comic ability creating Ned Alleyn, the leading actor of the day - fact not fiction - as a star who considers himself to be the centre of the universe. And Judi Dench is wicked as Elizabeth, decked out in all her glory, lording it over everyone and delivering some of the best lines with obvious relish. We see a different side of Colin Firth who recently played Darcy in "Pride and Prejudice" - here he plays Wessex, a rather silly aristocrat, down on his luck, who plans to marry Viola for her money. Fans of the British TV comedy "Men Behaving Badly" may be surprised to see Martin Clunes in a serious role as Burbage, the rival theatre owner.
In the central roles, Fiennes and Paltrow look the part and we really believe in the passion that develops between them.
"Shakespeare In Love" is hugely entertaining whether or not you know anything about Shakespeare or his plays, though there is certainly an additional level of pleasure with lots of in jokes for those familiar with the Bard's works.
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