Very Good, but far from Great

Rating: 6/10 (6 February 1999)

I saw Shakespeare in Love last night and I can't hide the fact that I very much enjoyed the movie. The humor poking at Hollywood and the subtle foreshadowing to "Twelth Night" were extremely well done. I think the only problem with the film was that at times, it was just too dark. When Shakespeare thought that he was responsible for the death of Christopher Marlowe, the movie seemed to lose its lightness, which is the film's greatest strength. While it served its concept very well and it was well acted by all, especially Judi Dench as Queen Elizabeth, the movie just forgot too often that it was a clever, occasionally brilliant comedy. I can't believe that it won best original screenplay at the Golden Globes over "Truman Show." I gave this movie a 7 out of 10.