Where there's a a Will, there's a play.

Rating: 10/10 (9 March 2017)

While this deals with the creation of "Romeo and Juliet", in some eyes his very best play, this is really a story of deception, a la Yentl, a la "As You Like It". This is about the desires of a young lady (Gwyneth Paltrow) who desired to act and disguised herself as a boy to play the part of Romeo, ironically opposite a young male actor as Juliet. In the process, she falls in love with Shakespeare (the dashing Joseph Fiennes) and while he returns her feelings, he uses elements of their relationship to finish the play. A jealous suitor becomes Mercutio; her nurse (Imelda Staunton) becomes Juliet's nurse, and various personal tragedies guide the conclusion, leading to a triumph....or does it?
Perfect in every detail, this Oscar winning best picture features a great cast in smaller parts, most notably the Oscar winning Judi Dench as the imperious Queen Elizabeth II, basically a cameo, but a commanding one. There's some ironic cameos as well, including "Downton Abbey's" Carson (Jim Carter) as the actor playing the nurse, and deep down the cast list, "Are You Being Served?"'s Mr. Humphreys (John Inman). Geoffrey rush, Simon Callow and Ben Affleck are just a sample of the incredible cast. There's humor, tension, sexism galore (a historical fact of the times) and lush music, photography and art direction. I'm glad this just presents the facts (fictional or not) and leaves the point of view to the audience decide.