Shakespeare: Much Ado About NOTHING

Rating: Null/10 (11 November 1999)

When I originally saw the previews for this movie, I said to myself, "What a STUPID idea" I am not the typical male who thinks that Shakespeare wrote War and Peace, I have acted in Shakespearian plays, read and enjoyed many sonnets, and revere Shakespeare as the greatest dramatist, poet, and writer in the english language. It is because of my great respect for the man that I thought a romantic comedy based on Shakespeare's struggles through life and love was a horrible, stupid, terrible concept. That is when the critics praise and wonderful word of mouth made me second guess my initial evaluation. I thought, "Well maybe if they are respectful to his life and really do an exploration of Shakespeare's life, then it could be great!"
I should have stuck with my original impression to save time. What I saw was what I expected to see, a romantic comedy. And a mediocre one at that. Not that funny, not that romantic, not that good. Paltrow and Rush were Oscar Nominated for such mediocre performances and Judi Dench, while wonderful, was on screen for 5 minutes at the most, which classifies her role as a cameo not a supporting roll, did not deserve her oscar.
My biggest complaint was the script. COME ON!!!! I am all for the suspension of disbelief, but when you take this much artistic license with a HISTORICAL FIGURE, then you are just pushing it. I can just imagine Tom Stoppard waking up one morning and saying, "How about I b********* the life of the greatest playwright of all time." Why would you use Shakespeare as the main character in a romantic comedy? It does not make sense to me.

A lot of research about elizabethan playhouses, life, and practices, great costuming, good direction, and wonderful actors were wasted on this c***** plot and concept . "Shakespeare in Fluff", that's more like it.