The story of "Romeo and Ethyl, the Pirate's Daughter." Well, almost ...,

Rating: Null/10 (15 January 2007)

"Shakespeare in Love" is a good movie for those of us who don't particularly like Shakespeare. Not the man, but his works. I find the stilted old English he uses, and the delivery of lines, difficult to stay with, but I love this movie. Some feel it did not deserve "Best Picture", but I don't really care about that argument, I just like the movie.
In a similar vein as "Titanic" and "Pearl Harbor", where a fictional love story is woven through historical events, so is "Shakespeare in Love". The period, late 1500s, is correct, as are all the main characters, the ways of doing business, locations, and theaters. What is fictional is the love story that develops between Will Shakespeare(Joseph Fiennes) and lady Viola (Gwenneth Paltrow). While I seldom see Ms Paltrow as a sex symbol in her various films, in this one her bedroom scenes with Fiennes are quite lovely.
In this film, Will is "stuck", he is looking for a muse, and is intending on writing a new play "Romeo and Ethyl, the Pirate's Daughter." Through many brief interactions with his contemporaries and Viola, the story gradually develops, bit by bit, scene by scene, into the now famous romantic tragedy. To recruit a popular actor (Ben Affleck), who will play Mercutio, Will tells him, "It will be called Mercutio." Nearer the end, Affleck tells him, "I think it should be called 'Romeo and Juliet'. That's just a suggestion, consider it." What makes this such an entertaining film for me is the inspired writing and directing, which combines a factual period piece with smart and funny dialog. We see characters speaking in a modern language, and while the story line is plausible, the entire film is brimming with humor. Not the kind of "over-the-top" schtick that so many recent movies employ with limited success, but the best kind of subtle humor that is the calling card of a fine scriptwriter. It is the kind of film you can appreciate more upon each viewing, and see things you never saw before.
The DVD is also superb, although there is not much surround in the Dolby 5.1 soundtrack. A very interesting "extra" are facts about the real people who were represented as characters in this film. One of my favorites of all. (From John Madden, who recently directed 'Capt Corelli's Mandolin.')