Review of Shakespeare in Love (1998) by Alex R — 15 Jul 2014

Shakespeare in Love is a film that I really wanted to enjoy, but I simply didn't get into it. For me, it's a mediocre film, one that fails to really grab your attention and it really should have been something great.

However this is a film that is killed by the hype, and watching this, I simply didn't understand its grandeur or reasons why it's superb cinema. Before I get flack for my review. I consider films like Lawrence of Arabia, Gone with the Wind, the Godfather to be great cinema.

Not this. But that's my opinion. Shakespeare in Love felt like it just strived to please the board of the Academy, and it sure did, as it's your typical Oscar Bait film. I usually enjoy films such as this, but like I said, the film didn't grab my attention, I felt that there was something lacking in the film to really make it memorable.

The cast did do a fine job in what they brought to the screen, but the film just tries far too hard to impress that it just ends up underwhelming. I felt that it didn't warrant an Oscar win, as there were far better films to win than this.

Saving Private Ryan should have won, because it's a far superior, more emotional film, and one that is captivating from the first frame onwards. This on the other hand just feels tiresome in the long run, a film that is tedious and tries far too hard at grabbing your attention, and in doing so, you lose interest, and a film like this should have grabbed your attention effortlessly.

But everything feels overdone, and it ends being a film that doesn't satisfy.