Review of Anonymous (2011) by Shelley M — 11 Nov 2011

"Anonymous" is a film that takes place during the time when William Shakespeare was in the midst of writing and performing in his most well-known plays, or so it seemed. We learn (supposedly) that he had others working on his plays for him and paying him to perform in them, giving him all the credit, for the soul reason that he knows what he is doing, not because he knows how to properly write.

The story, although dragged out and dull, is extremely intriguing and a very fun ride to take through the ancient times. What goes without saying though, is that the set pieces and scenery that went into the making of this film are gorgeous to look at, and saves the dull scenes from becoming overly boring.

The acting is top-notch, the idea is fresh, the historical facts are correct, but the fact that the main story is overshadowed by many side plots, will force the audience to lose interest very quickly.

The screenplay is very "Shakespeare Influenced" even though we are forced to believe that he technically didn't write anything. Overall, I enjoyed watching the movie, but the fact I had to follow many plots points when I was only interested in the main one that was being pushed to the side, bored me quite a bit.

Still, I applaud Emmerich's take on history and I let the film do what it wanted to do! I recommend this film to people who have read and are familiar with shakespearean plays, but unfortunately that is the only crowd who will find this film interesting.

It's average, but it's fun!