Shakespeare in Love

Rating:
Summary: Did they get it?
Review: Hmm ... I find it hard to believe that any normal, educated person didn't like this film. Not only was it written by Tom Stoppard, the genius behind ROSENCRANTZ & GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD, but it contains so many Shakespearian in-jokes, so many Shakesperian allusions, so many great one-liners that those who didn't like it either weren't paying attention, or just didn't get it.

Rating:
Summary: Oh my God, this is terrible!
Review: This is a terrible movie from a terrible director with a terrible cast to go along with its terrible story.

Rating:
Summary: Stoppard is brilliant
Review: Only Tom Stoppard could write a script as complex and entertaining as this one. I suspect that people who don't like this movie missed the point. Filled with references to other Shakespeare works and even Christopher Marlowe and John Webster, it is riotously funny. This is drama and comedy just as Shakespeare wrote it: fast paced, occasionally base, full of puns and jokes, and energized. The performances are great, especially Feinnes, who should have been nominated for an Oscar. It is wild, rollercoaster of a movie that I love. I think William would have loved it, too.

Rating:
Summary: Good, sometimes great, film, but not as good as . . .
Review: Saving Private Ryan. Don't get me wrong, I generally love anything Shakespeare and this is no exception. I left the theater giddy after seeing this film. Gwyneth Paltrow turned in a very good performance (though not as good as Kate Blanchett's in "Elizabeth")as did Judy Dench and Geoofrey Rush. Ben Affleck's character was slightly out of place, but I think his performance worked for me because his character was meant to reflect the eternality of thespian vanity. To make it clear for the simple-minded, he represents the old maxim, "the more things change, the more things stay the same", with regards to actors. I liked his performance. The only performer in the movie who left me cold was Joseph Fiennes, who could take a few pointers from his brother. Not much of an impact "player", to steal a baseball analogy. The story was excellent and the writing top-notch. Not a boring moment in sight. As a hopeless romantic, this film captured my heart in many ways. All that said, however, this film did NOT deserve the Best Picture Oscar. It contained neither the depth of emotion, nor the level of technical achievement which "Saving Private Ryan" contained, and the writing and acting in SPR was at least equal to that in "Shakespeare in Love".

I am not contending that a serious film, such as SPR, should always beat out a film like SIL. Important films are not always necessarily BETTER films. I will simply say this: as someone who is touched profoundly by films of both genres (war drama and historical fiction/comedy), the film that keeps coming back to me, every single day, in one way or another, is "Saving Private Ryan", not "Shakespeare in Love". THAT is impact, and THAT is the reason SPR should have won.

Rating:
Summary: The Motion Picture Academy disappointed me with this choice!
Review: It's a better than average flick. It does quite a good job at its general depiction of life in Elizabethan England, but I doubt whether or not it's historically accurate about William Shakespeare's life. I really think this was a poor choice by the Academy for best picture; there were other nominees more deserving than this one.

Rating:
Summary: An intellectual, funny masterpiece!
Review: Stoppard has once again outdone himself! This movie was perhaps the best I have ever seen! I know many reviewers here have said it was too wordy, and not funny, but perhaps the humor was too high for them.

The humor in this movie is very intellectual. You have to think to get some of the jokes. That witty humor is the type of humor the Elizabethans, and Shakespeare himself, relied on. There were no TVs or radios - wit was the best entertainment.

This movie immerses the viewer completely in the movie's world. Although the basic plot is fiction, the world the plot is set in is very historically accurate. The costumes are excellent, even down to the nameless people walking on the street in the background. Even the hairstyles are mostly accuarate. The sets are beautiful, and very period. The portrayal of Queen Elizabeth by Judi Dench was outstanding - the personality of Elizabeth was perfectly captured and her performance was rivaled only by Glenda Jackson's portrayal of Elizabeth in the video series Elizabeth R.

Finally, the weaving of Shakespeare's works into the plot was beautifully done. This is a great movie to watch over and over, for you will always pick up a new reference or side joke that you missed before each time.

Rating:
Summary: Does for Shakespeare what Scream did for Slasher Movies
Review: Yes, I am actually comparing this movie to Scream. Just as Scream was filled with inside jokes and refernces to other slasher movies, so was Shakespeare in Love loaded with jokes and references to Shakespeare's plays. It is a thoroughly entertaining, bittersweet (perhaps a tad bit more sweet than bitter) romantic comedy, which was better written than Saving Private Ryan (and therfore superior in my book), even though it didn't achieve the technical mastery of that movie, the characters were deeper and the plot was less predictable.

Rating:
Summary: Shakespeare in Lust
Review: Well, its not Shakespeare, if that's what your expecting. Its more like a movie production of a cheap romance novel. The name of the greatest writer of the millennium is used to give legitimacy to a piece of fluff. Women can get their hormones going under the ruse of experiencing high art. Its a chick flick, nothing more.

Rating:
Summary: I'm so sorry I can't give this movie any minus stars!
Review: Lots of Oscars...How? Why? Just because of Paltrow on the bed? This year Cruel Intention may receive this award! My money would commit suicide if it knew that I spend it on Shakespeare In Love!

Rating:
Summary: I give this film 5 stars negative.
Review: So much has been said about this film that it has been exalted to high heavens by critics and suckers that it is about high time that we bring it down from its lofty perch straight down to an open grave to be buried and forgotten forever. (Let's face it, this film is grossly overrated).