"Shakespeare In Love"

Although "Shakespeare In Love" is one of my spouse's favorite movies, I'd only seen snatches of it on TV so I checked the Miramax Collector's Series out from our library so we could watch it together as well as see the bonus materials.

I found it to be a very fun romantic comedy and can certainly understand why the film won 7 academy awards including best actress for Gwyneth Paltrow. Paltrow and Joseph Fiennes (who played Will Shakespeare) were superb in their roles as was Judi Dench as Queen Elizabeth and Colin Firth as Paltrow's intended. I hardly recognized Geoffrey Rush (Captain Barbosa in the Pirate movies) in his role as one of the theater owners and Ben Affleck (playing one of the acting troupe) also performed admirably.

There was only one deleted scene that we wish had been left in the movie and the bonus materials added interesting insights into the times in which the movie was set. It appears theater was not in favor with the City of London officials (due to criminals attracted to it -- like pickpockets and prostitutes) so we have Queen Elizabeth (a big fan of the theater) to thank for its survival.

I also enjoyed the speculation as to what Will would be like and his lifestyle choices if he were alive today. What do you think he'd drive?

This is a fun, witty, and sexy movie.

pazt