Rating: 
Summary: The Best Movie of the Year, Period!
Review: As an avid reader and former actor of Shakespeare one would think that I might be biased toward my high rating of this film. On the contrary, due to my background on the subject I was expecting it to be a poorly-done comedy farce of the greatest writer of all time. I was more than pleasantly surprised to find that this screenplay was more well-written than I could have ever hoped. The movie is funny, dramatic, heart-wrenching and intelligent. It is enjoyable from start to finish. The performances from all of the actors (main and secondary) were brilliant. I still feel that Edward Norton (not Tom Hanks) deserved the Best Actor award for his perfomance in "American History X" but Joseph Fiennes was astounding as well. Commentary aside, I can not recommend this film more highly. If you are already a fan of Shakespeare's work then you will love the innumerable references to many of his other plays and if you are novice, this film will start you off in the right direction for gaining an appreciation for his brilliance. Buy this DVD...you will not be disappointed.
Rating: 
Summary: Horrible!
Review: Am I the only person who hated this film? I was bored to death during it and couldn't wait for it to end. It just shows how little imagination Hollywood has left that they would put out this piece of trash on a brilliant man like Shakespeare. I did not think that Gwyneth Paltrow's acting deserved the Oscar for this one.
Rating:
Summary: ROMANCE THROUGH THE AGES!!!
Review: I have been reading Shakespeare for years and have tried to view every movie made from his plays. This movie was simply wonderful. I loved all the side jokes that entwined his other plays. This is definately a true romance. Wouldn't we all like to think we were the inspiration for a love story. A definately must see movie.
Rating: 
Summary: Overrated
Review: This movie wasn't bad, and had some great acting and a very entertaining plot, but it has been so overrated. It is nowhere near good enough to be considered for an Oscar, and Gwyneth Paltrow, while by no means a bad actress, is neither stunning nor phenomenal, and in fact gave a rather shallow performance (she was better in 'Emma'). The entire movie was stereotypically "Hollywood". This film is worth seeing and is very entertaining, but it is not superb and should not be rated as such.
Rating: 
Summary: Good, Not a 'Great Film'
Review: I must say that in itself, Shakespeare in Love is a good film which I enjoyed greatly. However, when I watched the Oscars I was royally pissed off to see that it had beaten out Saving Private Ryan! The award was for BEST PICTURE dammit, not 'most literate script'. Saving Private Ryan and The Thin Red line were, in themselves, both 'Great' pictures in my opinion and in the opinion of many. Good film, not a great film. If you cannot handle the violence from Saving Private Ryan, rent or buy Shakespeare in Love. Thank you for you time :-)
Rating:
Summary: Great Shakespeare, inspiration for the masses
Review: I've seen quite a few movies based on plays, and plays written by, The Bard. This is definitely well worth watching many times! Hopefully it will inspire those who haven't yet seen Romeo & Juliet, etc. etc. to go out and watch them - it enhances this movie greatly! Acting was superb, writing was brilliant. The awards it won were well deserved.For those who complain about the sex - go watch a Disney movie instead of movies geared towards adult audiences. I enjoyed the sex scenes as well as the Shakespeare plays-within-the-movie. Life that Shakespeare wrote about in his plays *was* about sex, murder, betrayal and love. To sanitize this movie because of modern prudish timidity seems quite ridiculous. Many of Shakespeare's plays were primarily *about* sex!! Read through the notes of some of his plays sometimes, and see what he was really saying in those scenes. They're only obscure to modern audiences because many people don't understand the references that were obvious to people of his time.
Rating:
Summary: Didn't deserve Best Picture
Review: The movie could have been sooo much better. Saving Private Ryan should definately have won the oscar for best picture, no question.
Rating:
Summary: Screamingly funny...but cut the sex!
Review: I loved this comedy, but the only flaw I saw, or rather turned away from, was the sex. It probably would've gotten a PG rating had it not been for those scenes. As a writer I truly fell in love with the film, as the Will Shakespeare in this story reminds me of a few of my friends who are love-struck.
Rating:
Summary: A G-rated version
Review: This movie is in my top ten alltime. My only complaint was the explicit sex makes it inappropriate for children. I saw the movie again on Sabena Airlines last month -- and it could have been G-rated -- the sex scenes were shot differently. I would love to have the Sabena version in my video library.
Rating:
Summary: Massively Overrated
Review: This is a charming film. It has nice array of cross-references to other plays, which makes you feel like you're in on the joke. The performances are great. But in the end I felt like the movie cheated a bit. The final scene has the Queen showing up an *sneaking* into the gallery to see the work of the upstart author. I had a hard time getting past this and Paltrow's dreadful portrayal of a boy. Make no mistake, this is a well made film. It excells in its craftsmanship. For that alone Shakespeare In Love is worth a screening. But I'd reccommend renting before you purchase.
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