SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE - Clever, not brilliant.
Shakespeare in Love is probably one of the cleverest films of the year. The screenplay is full of jokes that turns Shakespeare's era into the 1990s with period costumes. Everything from psychotherapy, astrology, triple billings, and special guest stars are brought up in this film. The strength of the film does not lie in its acting - for it is pretty ordinary - that is, except for Geoffrey Rush and Judi Densch. Gwyneth Paltrow, who I'm not even sure should have been nominated for an oscar considering Christina Ricci in both The Opposite of Sex and Buffalo 66, was nonetheless good to look at, especially when half naked. But it is in exactly those 'romantic' scenes that this movie stumbles, almost without recovery. Firstly there are too many scenes of slowly worded, over acted poetry of romance. We got the drift after the love making scene - which had every single cliche in the book - the golden lighting in the morning was the highlight (also, the ridiculous scoring of the scenes). So my summary of this film is that it is at its best when it is in its comic moments. Its excellence really lies in the amazing screen play - which mixes a bit of Romeo and Juliet with the Twelfth Night, and constantly hints at Shakespeare's influences - from the talk of the common man in the street, to the conversations with other people. The film is let down I think, by the score, which is most certainly too cliched and not original enough. It almost wrecked the film, especially in the romantic scenes. They didn't need music. Elizabeth was an example of how scoring should operate.
70/100