I'm well familiar with the many arguments that someone other than the Stratford Actor, William Shakespeare, wrote the plays attributed to him and am somewhat agnostic about the whole matter. There are good reasons to believe someone else did them, although I think there are also good reasons to believe that Shakespeare was, for the most part, Shakespeare (allowing for collaboration with others in his company).
But this film isn't a good representation of the argument that Edward de Vere was the author of the plays we attribute to Shakespeare. I lost count of the historical inaccuracies after the first 20 minutes or so (Hamlet before Richard III? Richard III, not II, at Essex's revolt? And the way Marlowe died? Just to mention some obvious nonsense).
But I really was less bothered by that than I was by the general unbelievability of this film's characters. Just about everyone in this film over-emotes, and their motives are just implausible. I'll buy historical fiction (which this film really is), but only if the characters and events are believable and compelling. This film fails that test.
I doubt this film will be long for the theaters. It's terribly overcooked.
But this film isn't a good representation of the argument that Edward de Vere was the author of the plays we attribute to Shakespeare. I lost count of the historical inaccuracies after the first 20 minutes or so (Hamlet before Richard III? Richard III, not II, at Essex's revolt? And the way Marlowe died? Just to mention some obvious nonsense).
But I really was less bothered by that than I was by the general unbelievability of this film's characters. Just about everyone in this film over-emotes, and their motives are just implausible. I'll buy historical fiction (which this film really is), but only if the characters and events are believable and compelling. This film fails that test.
I doubt this film will be long for the theaters. It's terribly overcooked.