'Shakespeare in Love,' Paltrow enchant critics

The Florida Film Critics Circle gives the movie the 1998 award
for best picture, offering praise for its screenplay and female
lead.

By STEVE PERSALL

St. Petersburg Times, published January 12, 1999


ORLANDO -- The sprightly romantic comedy Shakespeare in Love
claimed three prizes, including best picture of 1998, when the
Florida Film Critics Circle convened Sunday.

Shakespeare in Love was also cited for its Tom Stoppard-Marc
Norman screenplay and for Gwyneth Paltrow's luminous
performance as the lover and muse of the young, then-unheralded
playwright.

* * *

Paltrow's dual-personality role in Sliding Doors also figured
into her selection by the Florida critics organization, now in
its third year of existence.

Ian McKellen was named best actor for his dark portrayals in
Gods and Monsters and Apt Pupil.

In Gods and Monsters, McKellen played Frankenstein director
James Whale at a time when his health and sanity were fading.
Apt Pupil cast the British stage and screen veteran as a Nazi
war criminal whose past is uncovered by a snooping high school
student.

Robert Duvall won the group's best supporting actor honor for
his turn as a crafty defense lawyer in A Civil Action. Last
year, Duvall was chosen by Florida critics as best actor for
his role in The Apostle.

Admired performances in three releases made Christina Ricci the
group's choice as best supporting actress. Ricci's fetching,
hard-edged roles in The Opposite of Sex, Pecker and Buffalo '66
were noted by voters, who dismissed her other 1998 work in Fear
and Loathing in Las Vegas and Small Soldiers.

Peter Weir edged out Steven Spielberg in the best director
category with his television-themed fable The Truman Show,
which was filmed in the Panhandle community of Seaside.

Spielberg's World War II drama Saving Private Ryan earned only
one Florida Film Critics Circle award, for Janusz Kaminsky's
cinematography.

Roberto Benigni's bittersweet Holocaust film Life is Beautiful
was selected as the best foreign-language film of the year.

Three filmmakers were voted awards as newcomers of the year.

Darren Aronofsky was honored for his riveting mind-games
thriller Pi, while director Chris Eyre and screenwriter Sherman
Alexie combined to make Smoke Signals an uncommon look into
American Indian storytelling.

The Florida Film Critics Circle comprises 11 writers from
publications across Florida, including the St. Petersburg
Times, Tampa Tribune, Miami Herald, Orlando Sentinel, Sarasota
Herald-Tribune, Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel and Weekly Planet.