the only historical figure that has been written about more than william shakespeare is jesus christ , which explains why the bard's materials are such a popular source for remakes , revisions , rewrites , inspiration , subtlety , credit , and dispute . indeed , in recent years , american contemporary cinema has been swamped with a wash of shakespearean products . including this year's upcoming a midsummer night's dream , shakespeare's material has been the cause for twenty-six big screen productions since 1990 . but for a change of pace , mrs . brown director john madden gives us a story of the bard himself in the wonderfully vibrant shakespeare in love . marc norman and tom stoppard's story is largely fantasy , although as the viewer soon learns , shakespeare in love is not a movie that takes itself seriously . ( will shakespeare of the 1590's would've been married to anne hathaway , and he would've had a teenage daughter and two young sons ; here he is a bachelor played by joseph fiennes . ) will is a writer struggling to come up with a great play , and his current comedy in the works -- " romeo and ethel , the pirate's daughter " -- just doesn't quite seem right . with the help of the great writer christopher marlowe ( rupert everett ) , and the inspiration of true love with noblewoman viola de lesseps ( gwyneth paltrow ) , he changes things around and writes one of his greatest tragedies , " romeo and juliet . " the love story between will and viola loosely parallels the story of romeo and juliet , to great effect . fiennes and paltrow develop a sexy chemistry as the two lovers which gives the movie much momentum ; this momentum smoothes out the bumps in the unfinished and largely unsuccessful comedy . the supporting roles are well filled out , from geoffrey rush as will's worrisome agent , philip , to tom wilkinson as the producer hugh fennyman . even ben affleck , leading the troupe of actors , manages to make a favorable impression ; and judi dench lends some brief moments of screen time as queen elizabeth i . gwyneth paltrow is by far , however , the standout of the lot , creating a large percentage of the forementioned vibrance . the story is well-crafted if nothing else , although it has dangerous moments where it flirts with the " let's make a movie " -genre . the dialogue is breezy and lighthearted , and certainly accessible by the audience's lowest common denominator . there's something for everyone in this romantic comedy , making it prime date flick material . although certainly not inspiring in any regard , it revels in a wholesome , well-rounded atmosphere that has been absent in many of 1998's pictures ; the true-love story is one of the best around . certainly recommendable when the traditional slew of indifferent year's-open releases is just around the corner .
