A Delightful and Spirited Romp

Rating: 9/10 (15 June 2016)

The setting is 1593 London, in the glory days of the Elizabethan theater. The screen caption reads, "Two playhouses are fighting it out for writers and audiences: The Curtain Theater with Richard Burbage, England's most famous actor, and the Rose, built by Philip Henslowe." Plays are often closed because of plagues and bad debts. Because Henslowe (Geoffrey Rush) has a cash flow problem, he is literally being legally (?) tortured by Hugh Fennyman (Tom Wilkinson) at film's commencement. Henslowe saves further pain by explaining that as Will Shakespeare's patron, he is expecting the playwright's latest play within two weeks. The show should garner twenty pounds, or enough to pay off his debt. The working title of the play is "Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate's Daughter," the precursor of "Romeo and Juliet."
In reality, Will Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes) cannot even get started as he has run out of ideas. Now Will needs inspiration. He tells therapist Dr. Moth (Antony Sher) that his quill is broken and that the organ of his imagination has dried up. The therapist advises Will to seek a new romance. Enter Viola de Lesseps (Gwyneth Paltrow). But there are complications, one of which is that Will has a wife in Stratford. Also, Viola has been promised by her rich father to another man, Lord Wessex (Colin Firth), a most disagreeable fellow. Wessex discusses his tobacco farms in Virginia, but he is several decades early! But Viola falls in love with Will, and they have an affair. When aging and sharp-tongued Queen Elizabeth (Judi Dench) seems to approve of the upcoming marriage, she quips to Wessex that "Have her, then, but you are a lordly fool. She's been plucked since I saw her last, and not by you. It takes a woman to know it." Viola loves poetry and wants to act, but she is not yet allowed on stage because of her gender ("the law of the land has our beauties played by pipsqueak boys"). She disguises herself as a mustachioed man, Thomas Kent.
Meanwhile Kit Marlowe has been killed. Will blames himself, as he had misled Wessex into believing that Kit had plucked Viola. But Will soon learns that Kit did not perish at the hand of Wessex; rather he died in a quarrel over a bill at a tavern (In real life Marlowe died at age 32 at Deptford under mysterious circumstances.). There would be a later sword fight between Will and Wessex. When Viola is discovered to be a woman, the Rose is closed down. But then Burbage offers his Curtain Theater, and the play is on. It is successful as the Queen humorously pardons Viola (Thomas!). Of course, Will can never really marry Viola; he works on his next play, "Twelfth Night."
While it takes a few liberties, this fictional story well captures the flavor of the late 16th century, and shows the difficulties in arranging for the plays, how they were often racked with financial problems, backstage politics, and court intrigue. The period sets and costumes are wonderfully done. John Madden created a film that is energetic and witty; it is a fine romantic comedy with tongue-in- cheek humor. For the most part, the casting works well. The statuesque Gwyneth Paltrow is quite appealing, speaks Shakespearean well, and artistically displays her "golden apples" for folks to admire. She shows great chemistry in her scenes with Fiennes, but in reality she is much too feminine to pass as a man on stage. Judi Dench was undoubtedly authoritarian as Queen Elizabeth. Ben Affleck (as Ned Alleyn), who speaks in modern English, is no Shakespearean actor. Geoffrey Rush has some nice comical lines, like "That's no one important, that's the author." Rupert Everett is uncredited as Christopher "Kit" Marlow. (At the time, the struggling Shakespeare was engaged in a rivalry with the already popular Kit as to who was the greater playwright. Nonetheless, both do show grace to each other in the film.) The feature certainly was one of the best of the 1998 year, and in fact won seven Academy Awards, including the Oscar for Best Picture.