what more could a viewer ask for?
The quote of the day:
Well, there's this nurse...
Running news:
After my stomach troubles of the past day, I decided to bag on running for today. But after a month of inactivity, I'm really looking forward to running again.
No, really. Darin and I both agree that it's the most entertaining two hours we've spent at a theater for a while now. It's witty, it's funny, it's got action, it's got romance, it's got lots of cute guys (and Geoffrey Rush, though he's not too appealing looking here). And Gwyneth Paltrow's in it too--she's not my favorite actress, but Darin thought she was fine.
There are so many layers to this movie. There's all the stuff about Shakespeare's plays. There are all the modern jokes: the psychiatrist, the specials of the day. There are the multitude of show business jokes. And there's the story, which would be enough for any movie but is just another element of this one.
Will Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes--not pronounced "Jafe"), talented playwright, has writer's block. He's supposed to write a play for Philip Henslowe (Geoffrey Rush), director of the Rose theatre, but he's blocked and needs a muse. He discovers an actor by the name of Thomas Kent, and in following Kent home runs into Viola de Lesseps (Gwyneth Paltrow), with whom he falls violently in love. Viola, an heiress, is desperately in love with the theatre and with Will Shakespeare's writing--to the point where she defies the laws of the time and dresses up as the actor Thomas Kent to appear in one of Shakespeare's plays. However, she gets betrothed to Lord Wessex (Colin Firth, way more of a stuffed shirt here than in the Pride and Prejudice A&E keeps showing). Hilarity ensues.
Everyone in this picture is marvelous. Rupert Everett does a cameo as Christopher Marlowe (whose death is finally explained). Ben Affleck is totally and completely hysterical as Ned Alleyn, your prototypical self-centered, self-important actor--I thought he stole the movie. Joseph Fiennes is all soulful eyes and great reactions, and Gwyneth Paltrow...well, like I said, she doesn't do anything for me, but Darin seemed to like her enough.
(Note: for those of you who haven't read this elsewhere, the boy with the mice is John Webster, who grows up to write plays like The Duchess of Malfi, which, like Titus Andronicus, is mainly an exercise in how to stage a bloodbath.)
And the writing--how many times recently have you just wanted to hug yourself you love the writing so much? The dialogue is pure Stoppard--reportedly that's all he contributed, but I find that difficult to believe.
The whole picture is a joy. Go see it.
I went to bed at 3pm yesterday. I woke up around midnight, made myself some peanut butter toast, and surfed the Web while commiserating with Greg on what he was doing up at that hour (doing some tech writing for work). I went back to bed at 2:30am and slept more or less until 7am. I should be over jetlag and over my stomach ailment (though I'm treating it tenderly).
Darin swears he got up at 4am yesterday because of jetlag, not because I woke him.
And for those of you who want the answers to the quiz: Phhhbbbbttt.
|
|
|
|
Copyright 1999 Diane Patterson
Send comments and questions to diane@spies.com