Review of Stage Beauty (2004) by Jace — 21 Feb 2007

While not the boiling melodrama one might expect from Shakesperean stew, this one simmers and cooks from start to finish. Highlights are Rupert Everett as King Charles II (bawdy, hilarious, over-the-top but utterly believable) and the dialogue, which breathes with extremely clever and irionic wit, as well as delivering emotional blows that linger into subsequent scenes.

This movie tells a poignant story and has fun doing so, without ever devolving into plain silliness.