Film review by Kevin Patterson
SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE Rating: *** (out of four) R, 1998 Director: John Madden Screenplay: Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard Starring Cast: Gwyneth Paltrow, Joseph Fiennes
SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE is a story built out of one of those "what-if" scenarios. In this case, it's "What if William Shakespeare had a romantic relationship that came to an unfortunate ending around the time he was writing 'Romeo and Juliet'?" Joseph Fiennes and Gwyneth Paltrow star respectively as The Bard and Viola De Lesseps, an upper-class woman doomed to a marriage she despises. Screenwriters Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard deftly weave elements of Shakespeare's style, such as disguises, mistaken identities, and mistakenly attributed guilt, into this story, creating what was probably the favorite film of all English professors across the country. "Cute," "clever," "funny," and "charming" are all words I would use to describe this entertaining trip through 16th-century England as Shakespeare probably knew it. Words I would not use to describe it, however, are "best film of the year" or "worthy of thirteen Oscar nominations." Yes, it's a lot of fun, and yes, it's intelligently written, but I'm afraid I don't see much more to it than that: the story is essentially a prolonged gimmick, and some of the most poignant dialogue is not the screenwriters' but Shakespeare's, when Fiennes and Paltrow end up playing the parts of Romeo and Juliet on the afternoon of the play's premiere. Still, I was never bored for a second, and SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE is refreshingly devoid of the clichés and melodrama that plague many a romantic comedy.
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