Shakespeare in Love

By PHILIP WUNTCH
http://dfw.citysearch.com/E/M/DALTX/0000/03/62/cs1.html
Published in The Dallas Morning News: 12.24.98


Forget that patronizing phrase of qualified approval, "a feel-good
movie."

"Shakespeare in Love" is a feel-great movie.

It stirs a terrific awareness of both the exhilaration and pain of
artistry and creativity. And you can also be assured that it makes you
feel terrific about love, romance and sex.

The exquisite movie has a quality that few contemporary comedies can
claim – genuine verbal wit. Almost every line of dialogue provokes a
smile, a chuckle or a guffaw. That shouldn't be surprising, since it's
co-written by Tom Stoppard, whose "Rosencranz and Guildenstern Are Dead"
made merry with Hamlet.

With a superb cast headed by a luminous Gwyneth Paltrow and a smoldering
Joseph Fiennes, "Shakespeare in Love" is both ribald and romantic,
fulfilling its title's amorous promise.

When first seen, the young writer called Will Shakespeare (Mr. Fiennes,
who is Ralph's less austere younger brother) is a 1593 London wannabe.
He's enjoyed some successes, but his talent is deemed inferior to that
of self-aggrandizing Christopher Marlowe (an unbilled Rupert Everett).
Currently, Will is prodded by a debt-ridden and increasingly hysterical
theater owner (Geoffrey Rush) to spin out a crowd-pleasing comedy,
"Romeo and Ethel, The Pirate's Daughter."

Will tries half-heartedly to do justice to "Romeo and Ethel," but
something is missing. A part of him already feels hollow. He has a wife
back home in Stratford-on-Avon, but their marriage has turned cold.

Enter Lady Viola (Ms. Paltrow), who's intelligent enough to appreciate
all of Will's plays and sonnets and to recognize that he's not merely a
flavor-of-the-fortnight. She also has a passion for acting and a
craving for personal independence. But acting is verboten to women in
Elizabethan times, and Viola's parents have arranged her marriage to an
unworthy lout (Colin Firth). Does this make her an ideal Shakespeare
heroine or what?

Will falls madly in love with Viola, even if he isn't quite certain who
she is. Although she wears wig, mustache and goatee to disguise herself
as a boy in order to play Romeo, they enjoy a lingering kiss. Emotions
and identities finally merge beautifully for the first public
performance of the romantic tragedy now called "omeo and Juliet."

The movie is erudite enough to include among its characters a young
ruffian named John Roberts, who enjoys the company of rats and savors
Will's plays primarily for their body count. But the movie is clever
enough so that the character can be enjoyed even by those who don't
recognize that John Webster became the leading creator of Jacobean
horror plays.

The screenplay mixes Bard cadence with broad jests, as exalted on its
level as Cole Porter's lyrics were for "Kiss Me Kate," which dealt with
a more tempestuous Shakespearean duo. The comic targets include the
eternal egomania of creative talent and the constant battle zone of
commerce and artistry. Director John Madden, who last year caught the
palpitations of a royal British court in "Mrs. Brown," brings all the
screenplay's nuances to lusty life.

Ms. Paltrow and Mr. Fiennes make a sensuous, tender pair. Ms. Paltrow's
Viola is warm and sparkling. Except as Jane Austen's "Emma" or as the
con artist in "Flesh and Bone," Ms. Paltrow often seemed practiced and
even listless. Here, she is consistently vibrant. Mr. Fiennes is always
accessible yet never less than convincing as a literary icon. He even
looks lively when brooding.

Mr. Rush shows true comic command as the beleaguered producer, while
Mr. Everett speaks daggers as the arrogant Marlowe. Mr. Firth wisely
underplays the part of Viola's unwanted fiance, not turning him into
the expected buffoon. On the other hand, Ben Affleck preens hilariously
as an actor who fancies that the play should really be called Mercutio
after his character.

Dame Judi Dench, the morose Queen Victoria in "Mrs. Brown," does a
powerhouse turn as Queen Elizabeth, a monarch who enjoys her own
private jokes but has no time to suffer the frivolities of others. Dame
Judi is on her way to becoming an international treasure.

Filled with romantic resonance and bright comic prisms, "Shakespeare in
Love" is a beautiful rainbow following a dim holiday movie season.