If You Are Looking For Serious Shakespeare, You Need Not Apply

Rating: 2/10 (1 March 2017)

After reading a piece of historical fiction regarding the life of William Shakespeare, I figured I would give this Academy Award-winning film a try while inspired. Unfortunately, what I found was very nearly a complete and utter mess of comedy trying to be mixed with serious themes.
For a basic plot summary, "Shakespeare in Love" weaves the tale of the creation of William Shakespeare's (Joseph Fiennes) "Romeo & Juliet" with his strikingly similar romance to Viola De Lesseps (Gwyneth Paltrow).
There are so many things wrong with this production that I wonder where to even begin. Here are the things that really turned me off the most:
-I'm not Shakespeare historian, to be sure, but the plot of this movie seems like complete fiction to me (a real-life romance inspiring "Romeo & Juliet"). If someone can tell me if this has any basis in fact, please let me know, as I would be very interested. As it were, I could not separate the great play from this cheap effort to produce concurrent narratives. -You can't play Shakespeare off as a goof! Mr. Fiennes may be a better actor in other roles, but he completely lacks the gravitas to play The Bard. -More to the above point, director John Madden is unable to find a medium between comedy and drama. This movie had to be either one or the other, and instead it ends up being neither. In my mind, Shakespeare either has to be taken reverently or be given the "life and times" approach, looking at him from a real-life perspective. This film does neither. He's a bumbling fool from beginning to end and somehow magically happens to put together this wonderful play. -Don't even get me started on the casting. Ben Affleck is a joke, among others, while I would say that only Paltrow turns in a decent performance from the entire lot.
I guess what it came down to for me, then, was the fact that I couldn't "buy in" to the notion of "Romeo & Juliet" being inspired by a real-life romance. That seemed like too much of a reach for me. It is mind-boggling to me, in hindsight, that this film snagged the Oscar over "Saving Private Ryan". Talking about your Shakespearean tragedy (!).