Can you say "overrated"?

Rating: Null/10 (1 March 2000)

After "Shakespeare in Love" won almost every nomination, and beat "Saving Private Ryan" for Best Picture, I decided I had to see it. I never got around to seeing it in the theater, and I had to wait for it to come to video. After seeing nearly all of this year's Best Picture nominees, I felt more inclined to see it than ever. I finally rented it on DVD, came home, popped it in, and expected a really great film. As much to my shock as was my disappointment, it wasn't.
"Shakespeare in Love" is not a bad film, and there are some things I liked about it. It was a sumptuous period piece, and I admired Geoffrey Rush's performance, since he never ceases to amaze me with his acting talent. Gwyneth Paltrow was fair, although her performance didn't stun me. However, the whole time I was watching this, my mind couldn't help but drift elsewhere, and I had to wake myself up in order to pay attention. My point is, it simply didn't grab me. Most of the Best Picture nominees and winners are films that grab my attention and have a strong influence on me. This one didn't. It was a cute love story, but not strong enough in my opinion to receive as much as a nomination. It deserved awards for costume and set design, and Geoffrey Rush's performance, otherwise no. This film was not one of the best films of 1998! No way!
Also, in the age of Columbine when theater owners are obsessive about carding children for getting into R-rated films, I can't see how this got an R-rating. So what if we caught a glimpse of Gwyneth Paltrow's boobies. "TITANIC" let us see Kate Winslet in full view, and that got a mild PG-13. There is no explicit violence or sex in "Shakespeare in Love". The MPAA's obsession with sex or nudity in any shape or form onscreen is uncanny.

As for the overall quality of "Shakespeare in Love", it was well done. I never said that it was a bad film, and I sort of liked it. However, the fact that it won the Academy Award for Best Picture, proclaiming it as the best film of 1998, does nothing but disappoint and anger me.