Review of Shakespeare in Love (1998) by Peter H — 01 Mar 2010

"Playwrights teach us nothing about love. They make it pretty, they make it comical, or they make it lust, but they cannot make it true.".

I've always thought this true about Hollywood, which is the obvious parallel of the movie. Perhaps Romeo & Juliet does show the true nature of love, but I tend to doubt it. I doubt even more that this movie itself does so, but it is undeniable enjoyable.

It's more original than most of the awful slew of romantic comedy romps that plague the world. That being said, it is a romantic comedy romp. It's a feel-good, crowd-pleaser that's low on deep thinking and high on endorphins, but with an interesting twist: an unhappy ending.

The story of how Shakespeare came to write Romeo & Juliet is interesting despite certainly being hyped-up, sexed-up, and made up. It's an interesting journey to watch so that we can imagine that Shakespeare's life mirrored his plays. It positively drips with sappy romance, but it's the kind of thing you like in spite of yourself, and you are glad to see all the things mysteriously and happily come together during the performance of the play.

So, yeah, it's cute and worth watching.