MOVIE OF THE WEEK #1 (10/28/11): ANONYMOUS
KEY CAST MEMBERS: Rhys Ifans, Vanessa Redgrave, Joely Richardson, David Thewlis, Xavier Samuel, Sebastian Armesto, Rafe Spall, Edward Hogg, Jamie Campbell Bower and Derek Jacobi
WRITER(S): John Orloff
DIRECTOR: Roland Emmerich
WEB SITE: http://www.anonymous-movie.com/site/
THE PLOT: Inspired by centuries worth of speculation, Anonymous investigates who is the real author of such beloved creations such as Henry V, King Lear and Romeo and Juliet. For is it truly William Shakespeare (Rafe Spall), an actor often found taking the stage in the works of struggling playwright Ben Johnson (Sebastian Armesto) ... Or is it Edward de Vere (Rhys Ifans, played as a young man by Jamie Campbell Bower), the 17th Earl of Oxford, a great, learned man with an affinity for art, politics ... And perhaps even Queen Elizabeth (Vanessa Redgrave; portrayed by Joely Richardson as a younger woman) herself?
You see, the political climate in Elizabeth's kingdom is nearing a state of change ... For with the queen aging, there will be a new ruler soon, possibly in the form of King James I (James Clyde) of Scotland. With William Cecil (David Thewlis) and later his son, the hunchbacked Robert (Edward Hogg, played as a child by Isaiah Michalski), advising her (and keeping her other affairs under wraps), Elizabeth has a lot of hard choices to make. But the Earl of Oxford, you see, is fearful of what having Henry take the throne may do to his beloved England.
So how could he possibly create a political uprising without causing harm to himself, the Earl of Essex (Sam Reed) or the Earl of Southampton (Xavier Samuel)? By leading the people to call for justice via the main outlet of the times: The theater ...
And with that out of the way, we now begin our story ...
THE TAKE: "Occupy England" - Those are the two words that first came to mind after watching Anonymous, which might be best described as mirror image of one of Shakespeare's plays given all of the betrayals, backstabbing and plotting going amongst its characters. For despite Anonymous' tagline - "Was Shakespeare a fraud?" - the film is much more about the politics of the throne, the power of words, blackmail and betrayal (there's a LOT of that in the film) ... Shakespeare, however, is just the point of access to breach the subject.
Here's a couple things you should know about Anonymous first should you still be debating whether or not to see it: [1] It's very British, both in terms of the subject matter and execution; [2] If you are not into British history or a fan of the sensibilities of such cinema, you are going to likely be uninterested; [3] The film does not play devil's advocate with whether or not Shakespeare actually wrote his works; it has a belief on who did, works from that point and then intermixes it with how that affected British rule during Queen Elizabeth's reign, which means that [4] If you are expecting something like the recently-released The Three Musketeers or [5] Have a short attention span, this is not the film for you.
If none of this bothers you, you may be pleasantly surprised by Anonymous. For the acting in the film is quite phenomenal in bringing each character to life, except in one case: William Shakespeare himself. For Spall's portrayal of "the Bard" as a drunken, illiterate, womanizing and essentially world class jackass is a bit much. But as stated earlier, this film is really not about Shakespeare at all - it's about conspiracy, political drama and private affairs, so the poor development of his character isn't really director Roland Emmerich's concern. Too bad, though, because it should have been as the character actually detracts from the movie more than he helps ...
Ultimately, Anonymous wants to be a film about one topic but uses another topic ... And while it pans out okay in the end, you might walk away feeling there were two different films competing for the same piece of celluloid. And that's why you have a mixed bag in a film like Anonymous.
PARTING SHOT: A film with an interesting premise, Anonymous may have an idea about who really wrote William Shakespeare's plays, but knowing who might really enjoy watching its take on the subject remains to be seen ...
RATING (OUT OF FOUR BUCKETS OF POPCORN):
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