The most overrated movie of 1998

Rating: 7/10 (5 April 1999)

Shakespeare in Love is not a bad movie, but it is not a great one either. In fact, in most areas, this movie is amazingly mediocre to pretty good. It is not particularly funny, not particularly well acted (with the exception of Judi Dench's incredibly small role, the rest of the performances are just adequately acted at best), not moving, not profound, and based on an adulterous affair between an engaged woman and a man who has left his wife and kids (something that is never romantic in real life, but somehow portrayed as such in the movies). The one area that the film does excel is in its look. This movie is beautiful to look at and brilliantly designed.
The real flaw in this movie lies in its central relationship between the young Will Shakespeare and his mistress Viola. There is nothing to there relationship. It's shallow. Great movies cause you to make realizations about love that you always somehow knew or never quite figured out. There are no realizations to be made in this movie. Why are these characters even in love? It's really hard to tell. I think it's because they are both so beautiful and really know how to tell each other that. That's fine. Not every movie has to be profound or meaningful, but the great one's are. Shakespeare in Love is not great.
The most surprising thing for me was the lack of real humor in this movie. Tom Stoppard is truly one of the greatest living playwrights with a gift for comedy and a personal favorite of mine. This script (which he co-wrote), however, is amusing at times, clever often, but rarely funny. I guess I expect too much. If you see this movie, enjoy it for what it is - beautiful eyecandy with a clever but fluffy storyline. If you don't see it, don't worry. (7 stars)