Shakespeare in Love

Women were excluded from early English theaters with any female parts being played by men or boys. Actresses were forbidden. The character of Viola De Lesseps, played by Gweneth Paltrow was created by screenwriters Tom Stoppard and Marc Norman; she was not based on a person alive at the time of Shakespeare. So while the plausible storyline of a theater-bound romance exists, the affair is based on pure fiction.

As a fictional historical romance, the movie is very entertaining but the characters take liberties in the film that would probably not have been tolerated in Elizabethan times. In fact portraying Queen Elizabeth as a person who would ignore the reality of an actual known woman performing on stage in public seems very dubious indeed. Judi Dench is a very believable queen and her performance makes it seem plausible at least that one could get away with such improprieties if the performance was clearly outstanding.

Gratuitous scenes with star knockers and one energetic humping scene with Richard Burbage, played by Martin Clunes, were obvious ploys to titillate movie viewers but added little of value to the story line in this writer's opinion. I would have enjoyed the movie more without the soft porn thrown in, and the rating would have been far less restrictive.

Overall it was an enjoyable film which portrayed the rowdy 16th century theater culture with some sense of realism although the theaters and people were probably more squalid based on history of the time.

It's not my favorite movie but I'm glad I saw it at last and recommend it to anyone else who enjoys historical drama with romance and some lighthearted comedy. It is definitely a "chick flick" with a rather familiar plot.

Shakespeare in Love Movie Reviews at Amazon

Winner of 7 Academy Awards in 1999

It won an Oscar for Best Picture, Gweneth Paltrow won Best Actress in a Leading Role, and Judi Dench won Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Shakespeare in Love also won Oscars for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Costume Design, Best Music, Original Musical or Comedy Score, and Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen.