Shakespeare In Love (1998)

Shakespeare in Love is about a woman named Viola, and dreams of being an actress. However, girls aren't allowed to act on stage in these times. Desparate, she disuises herself as a man and auditions for William Shakespeare's new play, and soon ends up falling in love with him. The film is basically a fictional telling of how Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet. The costume design is magnificent, as well as the setting being very accurate. The direction is very good, and the writing is fantastic. But the main reason to love this film is the cast. Gwyneth Paltrow and Joseph Fienners play their parts brilliantly, especially Paltrow, who was awarded an Oscar for the film. Their chemistry is superb, and they make a rather believeable couple. The supporting cast are brilliant as well, with Colin Firth, Ben Affleck and Geoffrey Rush all giving magnificent performances (Never thought I'd be saying that about Ben Affleck). I really like the story. I think it's imaginative and conveys an image of true love. I only have 2 problems with the film: The first one being, and I know a lot of people were angry about this, that the film was awarded the Oscar for Best Picture over Saving Private Ryan. Now, I've never been a huge fan of Private Ryan, and I'm glad this won, but even I have to admit that SPR is the better made film. But what I annoys me a bit more is Judi Dench winning the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress playing Elizabeth the 1st. Whilst she was good, she was only on screen for a total of 8 minutes. Sorry, but in my eyes, that's not worth an Oscar. 8 minutes is not enough time to show off your acting ability and make sure it's the strongest you've ever done. That's what I believe deserves an Oscar. And to be honest, she didn't do that much, no moments where she really shined. She was just a supporting actress for comic relief. Overall, despite a few undeserved Oscars, Shakespeare in Love is one of my favourtie British films, with a stellar cast and a fantastic story. 5 Stars