Who could fault "Shakespeare in Love"? It's a gem, a treasure, a pearl. It's everything a movie about the bard should be. It's passionate and colorful and smart. It's charming and exciting and infinitely watchable. There's everything you could ever want in a movie here--drama, romance, adventure, rivalry, comedy, and even a few tears.
Everything about the movie is brilliant. Joseph Fienes who looked so uncomfortable as Elizabeth's beau in the movie of the same name seems born to be Stratford's favorite son. He's as dashing and romantic as he should be.
Gwenneth Paltrow as Viola, the lady Shakespeare loves could not be better. She's perfect in the role, and the chemistry between the pair is captivating from the first moment their eyes meet on the screen and it never falters until the very end.
Judi Dench as Queen Elizabeth might steal the show if everyone around her was not equally brilliant! Geoffrey Rush is totally delightful as the struggling theatre manager. And Tom Wilkinson, who strutted his stuff so charmingly in "The Full Monty," does a delightfully convincing job as the money-man who ends up with a vital cameo in the tale of Juliet and her Romeo.
Ben Affleck is wonderful as the cocky Ned Alleyn--an actor so wonderfully full of himself he will only accept the role of Mercutio when Shakespeare hoodwinks him into thinking the character is the play's protagonist. It's also Alleyn who convinces Shakespeare that "Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate's Daughter" might not be the best title for the tragic-comedy.
Christopher Marlowe is played by Rupert Everett, and if Everett is a tad more understated than his supporting role in "My Best Friend's Wedding" his take on the role is authentic and comfortable.
Perhaps authentic and comfortable best sum up the whole movie. The story is clever. Written by Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard it incorporates enough history to keep you interested, but, like Shakespeare's plays, the film offers every viewer a level on which to find enjoyment.
If you have knowledge of Elizabethan drama then it's fun to catch the references. The action takes place in the Rose theatre--it's early Shakespeare, and the Globe won't be built for another dozen years or so. We also meet John Webster and learn of his love of gore--he grows up to write great tragedies like "The Duchess of Malfi." Then there's an almost "Amadeus-like" solution to the mysterious death of Christopher Marlowe, which is as likely a theory as any other.
The costumes are wonderful and the characters seem to belong in them. My favorite touch is the bulbous pearl hanging from the left lobe of Colin Firth, who plays Paltrow's selected marriage partner, the obnoxious Lord Wessex.
I could go on and on because I feel that "Shakespeare in Love" is faultless. It's good entertainment, it's good fun, and I'm sure it's destined to be employed in classrooms for years to come, since it brings Shakespeare very much to life.