Saturday, July 10, 2004

Shakespeare in Love (movie review)

I saw Shakespeare in Love when it made its theatrical run, and a lot of the dialog just blew past me. Maybe it's my hearing, but the combination of British accents and Shakespearean dialog meant that much of the movie was lost on me.
On DVD, it's a different story. The movie has subtitles in English, which you can turn on or off as you wish. For me the subtitles were a blessing because I was able to understand and knit together snippets of dialog that had been lost on me before. For this reason I was able to appreciate the movie, even though my knowledge of "Romeo and Juliet" is woefully lacking. The male lead, Joseph Fiennes, was pretty weak, but Gwyneth Paltrow was excellent as a woman playing a man and eventually playing a woman. The script is also a polished jewel with many fine lines, including long sections directly from Shakespeare's plays. For those who love Shakespeare, and those who love romance, it's a winner. Grade: B

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