The story of the greatest love story ever told (Shakespeare In Love (DVD))

Member Name: Barold

Product:	Shakespeare In Love (DVD)
Date:	20/05/09 (6 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Pleasant rom-com, faintly believable

Disadvantages: Language questionable at times

Sorry if I've stolen the headline from someone - I think its a tag line from the posters but it sprang to mind immediately so I could be wrong.
The plot here is simple enough. Shakespeare is a youngish writer/actor struggling to make his mark in the London playhouses. He is currently working on 'Romeo and Ethel the Pirates Daughter' but is struggling with writers block. Added to this he is in debt to a less than delightful money lender. The playhouses and material they host are not well respected among the higher classes, being considered to be catering for the lowest common denominator. Shakespeare falls in love and the film follows him as his love life inspires his writing and Romeo and Ethel becomes Romeo and Juliet.
We have a huge cast of stars here, from A-list Hollywood to stars from comedy series like Martin Clunes. All the characters are well played with the lesser known actors getting many of the most interesting parts. While the love story which unfolds inspires Romeo and Juliet, and of course we all know that story, the plot of the film is not so obvious that we can extrapolate one from the other. The dialogue is good, working many of the immediately recognizable lines from Romeo and Juliet into the ordinary life of Shakespeare so you can play spot the inspiration.
It's a pleasant comedy and if you squint you could probably persuade yourself is also culture. My biggest gripe with it would have to be that although it is set in Shakespearian times (well duh!) some of the language is a little too modern. Of course I don't expect it to be archaic but at one point a character basically says "that's my name, don't wear it out". And that just isn't Shakespeare. Still its better than "Bring me my longsword" = machine gun. Isn' t that right Baz?

Summary: Entertaining interpretation of Shakespeare