Bravo!

Rating: 10/10 (29 December 1998)

In a holiday season so full of movies that so closely missed their mark and earned a respectable four out of five stars, it's quite a breath of fresh air to finally see a film so deserving of a full five out of five. Wonderful acting is combined with a brilliant screenplay and meticulous attention to being a period piece in John Madden's latest film, "Shakespeare in Love."
While the premise is somewhat kitschy, the screenplay is brilliantly run along its lines and the acting is just superb. Joseph Fiennes plays a struggling young William Shakespeare who finds that his writing abilities have been of late dissipating rapidly. In desperation, he tries to launch a new play, prematurely entitled "Romeo and Ethel the Pirate's Daughter."
At tryouts, Shakespeare is none too impressed with the abilities of the players until the final actor takes the stage. This actor, however, is reluctant to be encountered by the over-eager Shakespeare and makes a hasty retreat.
All is shown to the audience that this actor is truly Viola De Lesseps, who is soon to be betrothed to the detestable Lord Wessex, played by Colin Firth. However, as women were not allowed to enter onto the theatre stage in 1593, Viola continues to assume the identity of a man and returns to the playhouse, only to be cast in the part of Romeo.
Viola's ruse is soon discovered by Shakespeare and they fall madly in love, which is where the movie really takes off. Joseph Fiennes and Gwyneth Paltrow are magnificent together and absolutely shimmer onscreen. The screenplay, by Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard, is a treat in itself and even some of Shakespeare's writing is creatively interspersed in the script.
Truly a film not to be missed and one that will hopefully enjoyed by many this holiday season. Five stars out of five; don't miss this one!