SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE - 1999
Joseph Fiennes, Gwyneth Paltrow, Geoffrey Rush, Ben Affleck, Colin Firth, Dame Judi Dench
You look at that bill and you think: "Geez! I wonder if Gwyneth Paltrow is naked in this movie?" And yes folks, she is. It's completely unnecessary nudity, placed there to make young hormonal guys want to go see a movie about a guy whose crap they can't stand reading. But hey! If Gwyneth Paltrow's boob is going to be plastered on a screen above our heads, looking like the blob that ate Manhattan, why the hell not?
Anyway, enough about that. Despite the fact that Gwyneth Paltrow makes me itch, every once in a while I have to admit that she's an okay actor. Not British! But an okay actor.
In this film we get to see the trials of William Shakespeare (affectionately called Will in this movie) as he suffers a fit of writer's block. Joe Fiennes plays the inestimable Bard of Avon, now far far away from Avon and his wife and living as what you'd call a freelance writer in London. To save his friend's playhouse, he is forced to write a comedy with the dubious title "Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate's daughter". Now, I'm not the most brilliant bulb, but I can still see a plot-induced whack in the head. This is the precursor to Romeo and Juliet, and as much as I can remember about Grade Nine english, as well as that Claire Danes movie, R&J isn't exactly a romp in the part on sunday. Ooh! This must be what they call 'a twist'!
As you might guess there is little to guess at in this movie. The plot is straightfoward, unlike that of an actual Shakespeare play, and you know what's going to happen. Even if you think you know, but the plot seems to be going in another direction, stick to your guns, baby, cause you're right.
Gwyneth Paltrow (you knew we'd have to go back to her sooner or later), plays Viola, the woman who wants to act. She dresses up as a boy to audition for Will's play, and subsequently lands the part of Romeo. Meanwhile, there's some dude dressed as a chick playing Juliet. Do you really want to get into the psychological, Freudian subtext of THAT? I didn't think so.
Ben Affleck plays a hugely egotistical actor but my GOD, does he play it well. There is no trace of the Boston friend-of-a-genius, nothing closely resembling a sensitive asteroid-killer here. The boy has talent! Talent, I say! (I will for now forget I ever saw Glory Daze. Of course, with the image of that hair burned forever into my memory...
Colin Firth plays the dasdardly Lord Wessex, one of those got-a-title-but-don't-got-the-cash type of people. He needs Viola's money, so her parents plan to marry her off to the guy with the title. But wait! She loves Will! Will this crazy mixed up world ever end? Just you wait. It's supposed to be a heart-rending ending!
Dame Judi Dench plays Queen Elizabeth I, and I must say that she didn't age as well as I thought she would, after seeing Elizabeth. But she delivers a solid performance as a supporting character, as usual. This woman is one of my favourite all-time actors, and I will rue the day Helen Hunt won that Oscar...
Doesn't Lord Dudley look an awful lot like Shakespeare? And what about that spy guy? Did he go into running playhouses? What's going on? Well, you might have noticed a little bit of actor duplication from Elizabeth to Shakespeare in Love. That's because there are only four actors willing to say 'thou' in England. You've got to take what you can get, and if what you have to take is Joe Fiennes, then I'm perfectly willing and able.
My final thought on this movie? It plays better when dealing with the supporting characters like Affleck and Dench and Rush. Short scenes are almost always bang-on, but when they try to go deeper and longer, you just want to poke yourself in the eye. The love-scenes between Will and Viola were at times laughable, because they attempted too many times to draw the parallels of their relationship to that of Romeo and Juliet's. The scenes with Rush are priceless, Colin Firth is looking too handsome for his own good again, and as I said before, Ben Affleck really makes the most of his scenes. "Where's the play, and What's my part?!" He shouts at the beginning his first scene.
My advice: Go see this movie, because it is worth it. I enjoyed myself when not looking at naked Paltrow skin. Take a girl, take a guy, take them both, but go see it. It will be worth your time.