Anonymous

Disaster filmmaker Roland Emmerich takes a break from destroying the world with aliens, giant lizards, and mother nature itself, and tries to get a little more serious with Anonymous, a film that argues that William Shakespeare did not write the plays he is credited to. This is a sometimes entertaining, sometimes laggy, but genuinely well made costume drama that can be entertaining, as long as you don't try to make sense out of the numerous historical inaccuracies that can be found throughout. As a history lesson, it gets an F. As escapist entertainment, I'd give it a B-.

There have been many speculations and conspiracy theories that Shakespeare did not write his plays. Many names as to the true author have been kicked about over the years. The one that Emmerich and screenwriter John Orloff run with is Edward de Vere, the Earl of Oxford (Rhys Ifans). He is a man of high standing and power in the court of Queen Elizabeth, whom we see as both a young woman (Joely Richardson) and late in her life (Richardson's real life mother, Vanessa Redgrave). Edward longs to write plays and poems, but his position prevents him. He decides to strike a deal with struggling playwright, Ben Jonson (Sebastian Armesto), and offers him money if Jonson will publish and perform his plays under his name, instead of Edward's. Jonson balks at the idea, but not before he happens to tell about his meeting with the Earl to a young actor named Will Shakespeare (Rafe Spall).

Shakespeare is portrayed here largely as a lout, hungry for fame and attention, but not really holding any qualities that can earn him what he desires. He's often drunk, he's lewd, he's crass, and he does not share Jonson's qualms about putting his name on someone else's work. Edward's plays, with Shakespeare's name attached, become instant hits, stirring audiences like no one has ever seen. The drama mainly stems from Ben, and how he is forced to watch his undeserving friend suddenly become the toast of society. While he struggles to get his own plays performed, he watches Shakespeare swindle and blackmail his way into getting a theater constructed especially for his works. As for Edward, there is plenty of drama within the walls of the castle, including the lusty desires of Queen Elizabeth, and her many illegitimate children, including one with Edward.

Is all of this ridiculous? Absolutely. The fact that Anonymous plays this material completely straight is both a strength (the actors are able to sell this material quite well, even if we know it's rubbish), and a weakness (the movie has more turgid melodrama than an afternoon soap opera). This leads to my conflicted view upon the film. On one hand, Emmerich should be commended. He's made an attractive looking film, and has filled it with a fine cast. On the other hand, you get the sense that he really does believe the story he's telling us. The movie presents itself largely as a "what if", but doesn't dig deep enough into its own theories. Its main arguments for Shakespeare being a fraud is that he was largely illiterate. This is really only addressed in one or two scenes. The rest of the time, its main argument seems to be that Shakespeare was largely an ass and a glory hound.

And much like the historical drama I saw yesterday (J. Edgar), this movie likes to be loose with its timeline, jumping about to different points in time, seemingly at random. It's not quite as annoying as it was in Eastwood's movie, but there were still moments where I needed a second or two to figure out where we were supposed to be in the timeline of the story. A straight, cohesive narrative flow certainly could have only helped things. Still, faults aside, there is a lot to admire, especially the scenes focusing on the odd relationship between the Earl of Oxford, Shakespeare, and Jonson. These sequences create the most tension. The drama concerning the Queen and her subjects and family is slightly less successful, but the performances at least keep things afloat.

I would not recommend Anonymous as a teaching tool, or as something to introduce someone to the works of Shakespeare. But, I still managed to enjoy large parts of this, despite the huge leaps of faith and logic the movie often asked of me. I will say that Emmerich has struck out of his comfort zone of dumb special effects spectacles, and has mostly stayed afloat. Well, he doesn't strike too much out of his comfort zone. He does get to blow up a theater in the film's opening scene.

See the movie times in your area or buy the DVD at Amazon.com!

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