Not bad but too swashbuckling near the end to be credible

Rating: 6/10 (25 January 2002)

Well-crafted film with plenty of scenic verisimilitude and historical references, such as to stagecraft and theatrical customs of the time. Well-written script, and easy-to-take morsels of Shakespeare for the uninitiated. Judy Dench, who got the best lines (and an Oscar) didn't look the least bit like Queen Elizabeth, however. And Joseph Fiennes was miscast: long narrow face and too much the Hollywood or Pinewood male screen idol of the 20th century. And it's quite incredible that Shakespeare, an actor and writer, would take on an experienced soldier in mortal combat, and even less credible that he would fight him off. This must have been devised for the American audience who, film-makers now seem to think, have to have a fight-scene near the end of a film or they won't go to it. Is that really true?