Review of Shakespeare in Love (1998) by Carlos R — 12 Sep 2010

By no means will I begrudge Shakespeare in Love its strengths, but period comedy just doesn't really sit with me. It isn't actively heinous like Cheri or Stage Beauty, but I found it sort of tedious most of the time - and not really all that funny. Gwyneth Paltrow's savvy and thoughtful performance of an admittedly thin character, and in that vein her surprisingly apt handling of certain scenes in Romeo and Juliet, definitely buoy the film. I wouldn't have given her an Oscar, but the field was not strong that year (and I'm guessing Supporting Actress wasn't either because Judi Dench winning for this is a complete joke). Really, this movie pulled a fast one on the Academy; having never actually seen Saving Private Ryan, I can't really join the chorus of slighted fanboy voices, but a cursory look at the IMDB page for the year reveals a much more appealing slate of awards-worthy films.

Joseph Fiennes is sort of a wallpaper Shakespeare. I guess they didn't have the money to get his brother. Honestly, he and just about everyone else are already puddling in my mind. The movie just strikes me as a big blob of medieval brown. Not offensive in any way, and certainly strong through some passages, but totally skippable.