How could Shakespeare once have seemed so uncool?

Rating: Null/10 (23 July 2003)

Most people's introduction to Shakespeare is when they have to study his plays at school and very few are enthusiastic about them at that age. But if this film was shown to a school audience it would certainly win them over. The script is on a par with the Bard's work and the size of the memorable quotes section testifies to this. The cast is a line up of some of the best of the world's acting talent. There are a lot of elements of Shakespeare's plays in the story such as girls dressing as men and mistaken identity. The goofs section lists some anachronisms. Well, this is being true to the spirit of the plays. Doesn't a clock strike in Julius Caesar? Factual errors in the film? Well, Milan is nowhere near the sea yet Shakespeare makes it a port in The Tempest. If you just read Shakespeare for your English exams at school you're not reading him for the right reasons. His work is there to be enjoyed and to say that he's influential is like calling Albert Einstein bright.