Excellent story of how Romeo and Ethel the Pirates Daughter....er, Romeo and Juliet came to be

Rating: 8/10 (4 July 2000)

Beautifully scripted and acted, SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE tells of how Shakespeare is suffering from writers block and how Romeo and Juliet came to be...or almost never was! Gwyneth Paltrow and Joseph Finnes are wonderful as William and Viola. The supporting cast (Geoffrey Rush, Ben Affleck (who was surprisingly good) and Judi Dench) are great as well. I think the most clever part of this movie is the ending, showing how Shakespeare got his inspiration for 12th Night. John Madden directs an extremely talented cast. Truly a one of a kind movie that only comes along once every so often. My only complaint is that I do not think it should have won over Saving Private Ryan for best picture. Other than that, it was great!