A Masterpiece Romantic Comedy

Rating: 10/10 (15 October 2012)

Shakespeare in Love is a romantic comedy drama that depicts a love affair involving playwright William Shakespeare at the time that he was writing the play Romeo and Juliet.It features Joseph Fiennes as Shakespeare together with Gwyneth Paltrow,Geoffrey Rush,Colin Firth,Ben Affleck and Judi Dench. The story is fiction, though several of the characters are based on real people. In addition, many of the characters, lines, and plot devices are references to Shakespeare's plays.It is written by Marc Norman and playwright Tom Stoppard; and it directed by John Madden
William Shakespeare is on a cold streak. Not only is he writing for Philip Henslow, owner of "The Rose," a theater whose doors are about to be closed by sadistic creditors, but he's got a nasty case of writer's block. Shakespeare hasn't written a hit in years. In fact, he hasn't written much of anything recently. Thus, the Bard finds himself in quite a bind when Henslowe, desperate to stave off another round of hot-coals- to-feet application, stakes The Rose's solvency on Shakespeare's new comedy, "Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate's Daughter." The problem is, "Romeo" is safely "locked away" in Shakespeare's head, which is to say that not a word of it is written. Meanwhile, the lovely Lady Viola is an ardent theater-goer which is scandalous for a woman of her breeding that especially admires Shakespeare's plays and, not incidentally, Bill himself. Alas, she's about to be sold as property into a loveless marriage by her mercenary father and shipped off to a Virginia tobacco plantation. But not before dressing up as a young man and winning the part of Romeo in the embryonic play. Shakespeare soon discovers the deception and goes along with it, using the blossoming love affair to ignite his muse. As William and Viola's romance grows in intensity and spirals towards its inevitable culmination, so, too, does the farcical comedy about Romeo and pirates transform into the timeless tragedy that is Romeo and Juliet.
One of the most winning and intelligent romantic comedies of the 1990's, Shakespeare in Love is filled with such good will, sunny romance, snappy one-liners, and devilish cleverness that it's absolutely irresistible.Like Shakespeare's work itself, the film is instantly accessible to everyone, from the raucous groundings looking for low comedy to the aesthetes hankering for some intellectual bite behind their entertainment. It is exquisitely acted, tightly directed and impressively assembled, this lively period piece is the kind of arty gem with potentially broad appeal to everyone who would watch this movie. Added to that,it is endlessly witty, visually rapturous, and sweetly romantic,it is a delightful romantic comedy that succeeds on nearly every level as it moves fast and may deserve multiple viewings.A masterpiece indeed.