A pure delight

Rating: 10/10 (13 January 2005)

Shakespeare In Love is, in my opinion, one of the best movies of the '90s, and entirely deserving of its awards. While less than serious and certainly less than faithful to history, it is conscious of being a comical take on the myth of Shakespeare's personal life, and scores points for sheer delight in the execution. All the cast is excellent, incl. Ben Affleck.
Gwyneth Paltrow, who never struck me as a very interesting actress, rises with this excellent material and delivers the best performance of her career, quite on par with, say, Imogen Stubbs' portrayal of Viola in Trevor Nunn's near-perfect Twelfth Night (1996).
Shakespeare In Love is a marvelously clever and literary feel-good movie that can be watched again many times. The only thing I'm not thrilled with is the simplistic, even annoying, soundtrack theme which is played over and over throughout the movie.
10 out of 10.