听 
Young Will Shakespeare loses all inspiration until he falls for Lady Viola, an actress. But women aren't allowed to act in Elizabethan times so she's posing as a boy. Also, the theatres have been closed for fear of the plague, and above all else, the play's the thing - but the thing is, there's no play.
This is a joyous and quite brilliant comedy. It's a career best for Joseph Fiennes as Shakespeare and if Gwyneth Paltrow isn't as good, it's not by much, and the entire cast are superb.
Perhaps it's because most of them are playing actors and there are barbs in here that would sting present-day Hollywood. For once, an all-star cast is a help to the story as well as to the box office.
Yet great as they and director John Madden are, what makes this is the story and the script. Every word feels natural and unforced yet when you look back you realise that not a syllable was there that didn't give you a joke or a shock at that moment and also set you up for something dramatic later.
It's a tremendous weaving of gags and drama that soars, especially in how Shakespeare's and Viola's romance informs and simultaneously mirrors the new "Romeo and Juliet" play we see him creating.
"Shakespeare in Love" is a romp and a breathless race that manages to make you laugh aloud, combined with an extreme poignancy that the jokes somehow only make better.
