Reviews

Riggan Thomson is an actor whose glory years are now in the past; in an attempt to regain the acclaim and leave behind the shadow of Birdman (the superhero that launched him to fame 20 years ago), he ventures to make a Broadway adaptation of Raymond Carver's What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, acted, directed and produced by himself. Just before the preview performances one of the players is injured, forcing the production to find a replacement, which comes in the skin of Mike Shiner, a brilliant but highly conflictive actor, due to his excessive commitment to the acting method. However, Mike is just one of the many issues Riggan must deal with before the opening night: his daughter Sam, fresh out of rehab and who's working as his assistant; Laura, her scene partner with whom is having an affair; a potential claim by the injured player; the pressure that brings the Times critic Tabitha Dickinson, who has the necessary influence to ensure the success or failure of the play, and finally is the voice in his head which manifests as Birdman and that makes him fantasize (or go delirious?) about his time of splendor.

In his fifth feature film, director Alejandro González Iñárritu takes a radical turn to his narrative style and bets for the black comedy and satire. This change turns out to be perfect, as he moves away from the stories infested of tragedy and suffering closer to what is known as "misery porn", and while they worked in the past for him, in his previous work Biutiful already showed that this formula was wearing out quickly. But he does not abandons them totally, since in Birdman explores the emotional misery of a man looking for a new opportunity to prove he is not finished and so redeem his failures as a father, husband and even as actor and how this search can cost him his sanity, all this with a very corrosive humor. Not coincidentally, Iñárritu has chosen the work of Raymond Carver, since it works as an irony about what love means for each of the characters: for Sam, the lack of it throughout his life; for Mike the love that borders on insane vanity and blinds him to the perception of others towards him and Riggan himself, looking for love in the form of success and lost admiration. At the same time Iñárritu with his co-writers throw a subtle but accurate critique of current Hollywood production system, concerned about over-exploiting movie sub-genres like the superheroes one and make endless franchises for the sole purpose of generating profits and how the same industry relegates and denies opportunities for older actors who are forced in many cases to create their own opportunities in order to stay relevant. On the other hand, it has no mercy with critics and how their work can turn into pure snobbery and some of them forget the sense of objective criticism and move it to the personal level.

Iñarritu has managed to polish his skills as a director and this time assumes a big risk by taking them to the limit, knowing that the result could have been disastrous. However, what he achieves is a hypnotic and captivating work. This with the help of a great technical team led by Oscar winner Emmanuel Lubezki, who continues to surpass himself, editors Stephen Mirrione and Douglas Crise, who executed perfectly the idea that the viewer is watching a long tracking shot and drummer Antonio Sanchez, who created based on jazz rhythms an energetic and disturbing score at the same time.

However, Iñarritu's best ability is the one that shines the most in this movie, and that's the capacity to create empathy with his actors so they can give the best of themselves and achieve unforgettable performances. This skill has been a constant since his film debut Amores perros and in Birdman takes advantage of a virtuoso cast with Naomi Watts, Andrea Riseborough and Amy Ryan in small but juicy roles, Emma Stone as Sam, Edward Norton who find in Mike his best performance in years. But certainly Michael Keaton is the soul, heart and brain of Birdman, at this point is difficult to conceive the film without his extraordinary performance as Riggan with all its nuances, from his emotional vulnerability caused by the fear of failure to his anger caused by his frustration.

This is how Birdman stands as one of the best films of 2014 and confirms Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu as one of the most daring and original voices in current cinema.

It's been nine years after Jesse and Celine met again in Paris. They are now married and have 2 daughters, Ella and Nina. Jesse continues his career as writer alternating with a job as a teacher and Celine faces several dilemmas about her work as an environmentalist. During their summer vacation in Greece, in which Jesse's eldest son (who resides in the United States) joins, what seems to be a respite from the routine of daily life, becomes a test their relationship.

The endearing characters created in 1995 by Richard Linklater for Before Sunrise return to continue discussing life and its ups and downs, but this time away from the aura of idealism and romanticism present in both Sunrise and its sequel Before Sunset, to show what's usually unseen or is reflected superficially in most American productions: what happens in the lives of the protagonists after choosing to be together? And life itself is exactly what happens: marriage, children, work and all the responsibility they carry, and how often dilute the dreams and ambitions of youth and early adulthood.

True to the style of its predecessors, Before Midnight plunges us into the world of Jesse and Celine through their talks, with dialogs loaded in this occasion with uncertainty about the future, much irony and even some regret and frustration for the past and the missed opportunities, as can be seen in the now famous hotel scene, in which a simple comment triggers a wave of complaints and repressed anger that comes to the surface. A moment somewhat uncomfortable to witness for the audience given its enormous realism.

But it is not all tragedy and broken dreams, since the exceptional script by Linklater with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy (for which they received an Oscar nomination) has the ability to make us see that despite everything, there's still between Jesse and Celine, but maybe not with the intensity as when they met in Vienna almost 2 decades ago. And that love, like everything else, changes over time, either for good or bad, it can become a great affection or great boredom, all depends on how one learns to handle it.

The success of this trilogy created by Linklater can (and should) also be attributed to Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, who over 18 years have grown in the same way as their characters. Needless to say that at this point they own and become Jesse and Celine in such an organic and natural way that sometimes gives the impression of watching a documentary on human relationships instead of a fictional story. Especially in Midnight both deliver the best performances of their careers so far; Hawke retains the same boyish charm as Jesse, but this time exposes his more vulnerable side admirably; Delpy gives Celine more neurosis than usual and while she's a little less sympathetic than in the past, all the anger that has been building for so long is completely understandable.

With Before Midnight, Richard Linklater confirms his status as one of the most invigorating filmmakers of American cinema nowadays, from which we can just wait to see whether Jesse and Celine continue discussing life in a continuation of what might be called one of the most complete film trilogies made in years (and maybe decades).

The solitude, the search for affection and the need to love and be loved has been a constant for humans over time. At the same time, technology has played a primary role in this quest, although ironically it seems that while all these technological advances are more significant, the man becomes more isolated and self-absorbed.

The premise of the latest film by Spike Jonze revolves around the aforementioned approach with a twist that up to 10 or 20 years ago may have been considered as pure science fiction and now may be close to happening: falling in love with an artificial intelligence. Theodore Wombly works by creating messages and love letters to those who need them; Theodore has trouble overcoming the separation from his wife and he does not feel ready to sign the divorce. One day, he gets the most advanced operating system ever created, which is capable of reasoning as a human and have their own identity. This is how this system calls itself Samantha and starts to become Theodore's company and confident, with who shares endless notions about the world and human beings. Both end up falling in love, to the surprise of Theodore's friends.

It's not surprising that Jonze has taken charge of such a bizarre notion considering his previous films (with gems like Being John Malkovich and Adaptation), but it is not surprising that the result is captivating, and his main success lies to he decides to tell a love story instead of a sci-fi one, and is a wonderful meditation on loneliness, emotional isolation (recurrent issues in his previous films) and even about forgiveness and learn to let go (and this is where Charlie Kaufman's influence on Jonze's style can be felt). Some people have highlighted the similarities between this and Lost in Translation by Sofia Coppola (who was actually married to Jonze), and even though both films handle common issues, the focus is what separates and differentiates them from each other.

However, if the relationship between Theodore and Samantha flows and feels natural and believable is largely thanks to the actors who play them. On the one hand we have Joaquin Phoenix, who delivers a very different performance from his usual range, which explores the emotions of a man overwhelmed by the melancholy caused by loneliness and who rediscovers the joy and the ability to love in the least expected way; a nuanced, subtle and heartbreaking work that ranks high among Phoenix's best. And on the other side is Samantha (who was originally played by Samantha Morton), who finds in Scarlett Johansson the perfect voice: a perfect mixture of innocence and sensuality that makes it easy to understand why anyone would fall for her. It would not be far-fetched to believe that in a few years this will join other iconic voice-only performances such as HAL-9000 or Darth Vader. Amy Adams also stands as Theodore's neighbor and best friend and Rooney Mara as his ex-wife.

Likewise, the production values of this film give a special quality: the production design by KK Barrett leads us to a postmodern and futuristic vision (and minimalistic at the same time) of Los Angeles without overshadowing the story development. The dazzling cinematography by Hoyt Van Hoytema that delivers images with a simple but overwhelming beauty and especially the masterful and elegant music created by Arcade Fire becomes the best vehicle for understanding the mood of the main characters, along with The Moon Song co-written by Jonze and Karen O for one of the most emotional scenes in the film.

Thus Jonze delivers a film that he himself has described as his most personal work, and ironically, despite its strange premise is the most touching and human of all.

Nowadays, the perception about relationships has changed significantly, due among other things to the changing priorities of life, in which casual encounters that do not involve any kind of attachments (either for lack of time to be in a relationship or even for fear of falling in love) are increasingly common. But what happens when the need to know the other person comes after one of those? What happens when feelings start to make their appearance?

This is the dilemma that faces Russell (Tom Cullen), a British lifeguard with a normal life with no major surprises, but with few close friends (the closest person in his life is his best friend Jamie). One night, on his way back home from Jamie's, he decides to go to a bar and meets Glen (Chris New) with whom ends up spending the night in his apartment. After detailing to Russell how they hooked up and slept together,Glen leaves, but Russell has the desire to keep watching him, which happens, but there is one small detail: Glen must go to the US to take an art course for 2 years.

Within the "genre" of romance movies, there are several examples of casual encounters, such as David Lean's Brief Encounter and more recently Richard Linklater's Before Sunrise. In fact, could be said that the latter is the most influential for Andrew Haigh, who in Weekend gives us a particular point of view about relationships and the reasons that lead us to want or not want to get involved emotionally.

In the case of Glen and Russell is evident that there is an attraction that goes beyond the physical aspect, and as they spend time together, the connection between them is notorious. Thus Haigh, no tricks, no melodrama, through his characters makes interesting reflections on what means to be gay in these times, and how gay men perceive concepts such as happiness, love or loneliness through their experiences and how they are noticed by straight people. Glen has a point of view about life that's slightly different than Russell's: despite being attracted to him, he is reluctant to fall because of a failed relationship and does not believe in marriage or long term commitments. Russell, meanwhile, believes in love and live life without hiding even though he is more reserved and somewhat shy.

With a film language closer to documentary, and a remarkable chemistry between Cullen and New, who are not afraid to take the risk of playing gay, Haigh takes us to be witnesses on how two people who barely know each other share their hopes, fears and cravings, making entirely believable that everything takes place in one weekend. Which in turn, makes harder for the viewer the inevitable moment of the farewell and in the end one can only hope that one day, they will meet again to find out whether it was really love what was flourishing between them.

With only 2 films, Sylvain Chomet has become a reference in the field of animated cinema, due to his unique and original style. His third feature film, Attila Marcel, implies a radical change in his career, being his first live-action movie (although he already experienced in this field in one of the short films from Paris Je t'aime), however, his style and quirks permeate along it.

Paul, a mute pianist since he was 2 years old because he witnessed the death of his parents, lives under the care of his aunts, a pair of single women who own a small dance school, and prepare him to compete in talent competitions. One day, by chance he meets Madame Proust, his downstairs neighbor, who runs a secret herbal business; intrigued by Paul's life circumstances, Mme. Proust decides to help him (via a mysterious herbal tea) to dig into their memories and traumas, in order to make him recover his voice.

A recurrent theme in Chomet's short but substantial filmography is loneliness, this primarily through the orphanhood, and the need for bonds of affection that drive the protagonists to overcome adversity; in this case, Paul seems to find in Mme. Proust an outlet to a cold and mundane existence along with his aunts and takes him on an inner journey of self-rediscovery. This without falling into sentimentality or cheap sappiness, but with a very emotional forcefulness and a quirky sense of humor, which is Chomet's trademark, evident since his first short film (The Old lady and the pigeons) and exploited to the fullest in The Triplets of Belleville.

The music is one of the aspects that Chomet has taken the best advantage of, to the extent that it becomes a prominent character of the story, as also happens in this movie; the piano plays a crucial role in the life of Paul, since it is the only mean of expression available for him before he meets Mme. Proust, who is curiously fond of the ukulele. In turn, some of the memories of Paul are manifested through curious and delirious musical numbers, which help Paul to find out a little more about the relationship between his parents before they died (and by the way, Chomet confirms his skill to create vigorous music and full of eccentric joy or a beautiful melancholy).

However, what distinguishes Chomet from the rest is his great ability to tell stories without using words, or using a minimum amount, such as in Belleville or The Illusionist. And while Attila Marcel is not a silent film, the lead character is, and in many cases is difficult to achieve a balance that does not distract the viewer to notice the lack of dialogue (that means to make the viewer attracted to the story from the very start of the movie), which Chomet achieves effortlessly. This is where is necessary to highlight the performance of Guillaume Gouix as Paul, as he manages to create an almost instant empathy using a face and a look worthy of the golden age of silent films. Also Anne Le Ny deserves mention as Mme Proust, who provides a perfect counterbalance to Paul, being the opposite of him: outgoing, outspoken, not afraid to speak his mind, but as lonely as Paul and with her own emotional issues to deal with.

In sum, Attila Marcel shows that the transition of animation directors to real action does not always equate to disastrous results, and is a somewhat modest but charming and stylish film exercise.

In recent years there has been a boom (mostly thanks to globalization) in the release of foreign animated films outside the common market (i.e. Disney, Dreamworks, Japanese anime), mainly European emerging as alternatives for those seeking animation not made for kids. Within this wave comes the french movie The Triplets of Belleville, one of the most original animated films ever made (in the opinion of this writer, of course).

Directed by Sylvain Chomet tells the story of Madame Souza who is in charge of raising her grandson Champion after being orphaned. In search of something that makes him happy, she discovers that Champion's true vocation is cycling and after years of hard training is ready to compete in the famous Tour de France. But in the middle of the competition he is kidnapped by a mafia that uses cyclists for clandestine races and they're killed if they lose. Thus, Madame Souza begins the rescue of her grandson in the bizarre town of Belleville with the help of the triplets of Belleville, famous stars of music hall in the 20's.

This is how Chomet creates an amazing story full of absurdities and nonsensical situations that works wonderfully and without the need of dialogues, creates absolute empathy to characters that appear to be designed to cause annoyance. A very curious element is Chomet's decision to portray Belleville (an obvious reference to New York) as a city full of morbidly obese people. Although this is meant as a critique of Western society where consumption makes people apathetic and uninterested in themselves.

Moreover, the music plays an important role in this film, without being a musical in the strict sense of the word has incredibly vivid and infectious musical moments, like the opening scene, which recalls the glory years of the triplets and in the making small appearances of legends like Django Reinhardt, Josephine Baker and Fred Astaire, in addition the soundtrack composed by Benoit Charest adds a feeling of nostalgia.

In short, The Triplets of Belleville is the perfect example of an animated film that breaks all established and refreshes the genre in an unexpected way.

Cinema has always been nourished by stories from real life that may seem unlikely at first, but if they are told honestly and free of pretension not only are credible, but also become endearing. This is the case of director Mike Mills, who in Beginners portrays the relationship with his father, who in the last years of his life decided to embrace his homosexuality.

Under this context, Mills and his father are played on screen by Ewan McGregor and Christopher Plummer, and build one of the most poignant father/son relationships in recent years. The year is 2003 and Oliver (McGregor) after losing her mother to cancer, receives the news that his father Hal (Plummer) who is 75 years old has decided to come out of the closet and live to the fullest along with his boyfriend Andy. However, another event will impact their lives forever: Hal suffers from a cancer that cannot be treated. This is how Oliver begins to question his own life and decisions about love, which leads him to meet Anna (played by Mélanie Laurent), a French actress with whom he starts a relationship, but Oliver's real challenge will be overcoming his fear of failure.

With a story of this nature the result could have become a parade of clichés and caricatures, but thanks to Mills' expertise and his personal experience with the subject, it does not happen, and making use of a highly original narrative endows his characters with humanity and puts them in situations that make them vulnerable to others, to themselves and to the future that awaits for them, without reaching levels of shameless emotional manipulation.

Another success in Mills's decisions is the choice of the cast, as each role requires an actor to understand and capture the internal conflicts of their characters and serve to them. And they all do a marvelous work: Ewan McGregor finds in Oliver a perfect mechanism to portray the melancholy and loneliness of a man who has become incapable of sustaining a serious relationship for fear of repeating the same pattern of his parents. Mélanie Laurent after working for Tarantino delivers a nuanced performance as a woman who, like Oliver has trouble finding love. It is however, Christopher Plummer, the most pleasant surprise,since he injects Hal an energy and vitality rarely seen in an actor of his age,and he's incredibly devastating in the moments of great emotional impact of the history. Needless to say that the Oscar Mr. Plummer won for this film is more than deserved. Special mention to Arthur, the dog of Hal and Oliver, because unlike other animals in movies, is not a gratuitous presence made to win the sympathy of the audience, as he plays an important role in the story and gives a special charm the dynamics of the film. Mary Page Keller also stands out in a brief but significant role as Oliver's mother when he was a child, as she lets us see a bit of frustration and self-deception when there are problems in a couple that are to be ignored (in this case Hal's sexuality).

Beginners is a peculiar but charming love letter to Mike Mills' family in which the message is: in matters of love we always are beginners regardless of how young or old we are. And it is never too late to love.

It's kind of ironic that in 21st. century in which the movie industry has saturated the cinema with technologies such as 3D and complex visual effects, a silent, black and white movie happens to be the one that won the Oscar for best picture in 2011. Many think that complies with the criteria and the age of most members of the Academy and although The Artist indeed appeals to nostalgia is an Oscar-worthy work.

Reminiscent of classics like A star is born and Singin' in the rain, The Artist goes back to 1927, when George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) is one of the most important stars of silent films and nothing seems to stop his splendor. On the other hand Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo) is an aspiring young actress who, thanks to a series of coincidences starts a film career with the support of George. However, the situation of both will give a 360 ° turn with the advent of talkies, as the rejection of George to make talkies seems to condemn him into oblivion, while Peppy becomes a star. As if this were not enough, the financial crisis of 1929 hits George's interests severely, although Peppy will try to help him in one way or another.

Although there have been approaches to storytelling without using dialogs in recent years (eg WALL*E or The Triplets of Belleville), no one had taken the risk of shooting a film in the same way they were made in the early years of cinema. The credit belongs to french director Michel Hazanavicius who takes such a risk by telling a story that has been told more than once in a risky format with the possibility of feeling outdated for the new generations, but the result is extremely fresh and charming. Although much of the charm (and the success of the film) has a name: Jean Dujardin: an actor with an overwhelming charisma who surpasses the challenge of conveying all the emotions being experienced by George without saying a single word (not in vain his performance earned him an Oscar). Along him Berenice Bejo also delivers a remarkable performance and devoid of artifice in which both could easily have fallen, plus their on-screen chemistry is remarkable and possibly the impact of the film with other actors would have been different.

A noteworthy aspect is the recreation of the decade of the 20's and early 30's, including the Oscar-winning music written by Ludovic Bource, which contributes to creating the atmosphere that the film aims to create by sticking to the way music was added to silent films.

However, the only "but" to this movie is Uggie, George's faithful pet and if it is a crucial part in history, feels like a forced element to cause empathy in the audience and looks too trained and that takes away spontaneity.

In short, the artist turns out to be a return to an extinct type of film that is both innovative and endearing and works as a perfect way to bring silent movies to new generations.

In 1988, the cult director John Waters made a musical-type approach to his childhood in Baltimore that resulted in the film Hairspray, which in turn resulted in a successful Broadway musical a couple of years ago.

As expected in the wake of the recent spate of film adaptations of stage musicals, the adaptation/remake of Hairspray was expected and unlike earlier tries that gave extremely poor results (Rent, The Producers, The Phantom of the Opera) Hairspray works and exceeds the expectations of seeing a musical at the height and claiming the genre after several setbacks.

The story revolves around Tracy Turnbland (the wonderful Nikki Blonsky), who despite living with overweight dreams to join the group of dancers from the Corny Collins Show, and when the opportunity to audition comes, she must make aside the prejudices of his overprotective mother (played by a brilliant John Travolta) and the channel manager Velma Von Tussle (Michelle Pfeiffer), who above all seeks to privilege her daughter Amber. On her way, Tracy will find out not only the prejudices towards overweight people but also the racial prejudices prevalent at the time, and she will find love personified by Link Larkin (Zac Efron), the star dancer of the show.

Thus, the director Adam Shankman takes us to an era in which a teenager's dream translated into dance and being part of the latest fashion through costumes and retro art direction that really makes you feel you're watching the 60's, great choreography,the performances of a sensational cast in that absolutely no one is out of place (and by my surprise, in which they all sing and do it very well) and a catchy soundtrack and full of energy and an honest reflection on racial discrimination (which in fact works better than some "Pseudo-adult-manifests-on-racism" like Crash)

Without doubt, Hairspray is a major surprise in every way: a big and great musical with big songs and a big ensemble cast.In other words, is big as its protagonist.

All the decisions we make in life have consequences, no matter how small or big they are. And they will affect people around us, positively or negatively. But what kind of decision can you make when your life is not what you expected or when you lose your way and become somebody completely unhappy? Will you risk everything including your family's happiness in order to achieve your own? Or can you be able to live a lie and leave behind your dreams and hopes to satisfy others?

In 1998, a writer named Michael Cunningham wrote The Hours, a novel that tries to answer some of the answers previously made through the perspective of 3 different women: famous writer Virginia Woolf in the process of writing one of her most famous works: Mrs. Dalloway; Laura Brown, a depressed woman in post-war Los Angeles in the 1950's and Clarissa Vaughan, an editor from New York in present time, who's planning a party for her friend Richard, who's dying because of AIDS. Cunningham shows how these 3 women, with no apparent relation must decide what to do with their lives in one day. Woolf's mental instability is damaging her relationship with Leonard, her husband. Laura is married to a man who doesn't love and she's expecting her second child and Clarissa is living with Sally her lover, but she practically lives for Richard.

The novel became an instant hit and even won the Pullitzer prize. With this background, the movie adaptation was a matter of time. That's how Stephen Daldry, director of the acclaimed independent movie Billy Elliot along with screenwriter David Hare bring to the big screen this story about living in order to find peace, which was a big challenge considering the novel is so rich in elements that many people actually considered impossible to integrate in a movie due to its complex psychological and introspective charge. Fortunately both, Daldry and Hare accomplish to avoid sentimentalism and melodrama to create a very haunting meditation of life and death.

The biggest achievement of the movie, nevertheless, lies in the acting: all the cast members give superb performances and the 3 leading women are simply sublime: Meryl Streep as Clarissa, the confused woman who refuses to leave behind the man who she loved once. The always marvelous Julianne Moore as Laura, the desperate woman looking for herself before it's too late and Nicole Kidman in her Oscar-winning performance as the unstable Woolf. They give their characters a very melancholic depth that's quite rare to find in movies nowadays. The supporting cast is also remarkable: from Ed Harris as Richard, Miranda Richardson, Toni Collette, John C. Reilly, Allison Janney and Jack Rovello as Richie, Laura's son.

Many people might claim this movie is the very essence of a depressing movie, but that's not the point of it:if this movie tries to tells us something it's a simple thing: don't be afraid of living your life as long as you're happy with it and don't hurt other people in the way of finding your happiness.

What inspired William Shakespeare to create his most famous work: Romeo and Juliet? Probably we'll never know with complete certainty. Through years, people have imagined what was the creative process behind it and one of the most intriguing ideas is what if Shakespeare had a muse that helped him to write the most famous and tragic love story ever told. Based on this premise, screenwriter Marc Norman and the acclaimed playwright Tom Stoppard play a little with historical facts to give us their own version of the story behind Romeo and Juliet.

London, 1593. Young Shakespeare is suffering a severe case of writer's block and he can't write anything. These are bad news for Phillip Henslowe, owner of The Rose (one of the most important playhouses of London at that time), who's in desperate need of a new play in order to pay his debts. In other part of the city, Lady Viola De Lesseps, daughter of a rich merchant is eager to be part of an acting company, even though women were not allowed to be on stage and let alone become actors. What they don't know is that destiny has a surprise for both of them: she will become his muse and will end up inspiring him to write again and he gives her a long-awaited opportunity by being part of the new play (although cheating a little since she has to dress herself as a man). But things won't be so easy for Viola, because she has been promised in marriage to Lord Wessex and she'll have to leave Will.

The screenplay offers us a completely different and fresh approach to Shakespeare and the Elizabethan period by choosing to explore a very risky field: the romantic comedy and the result could have been horrifying. Fortunately that never happens and instead we get a wonderfully charming and clever meditation about love as the greatest inspiration we'll ever find in life.

Also the acting is a pretty important element for the movie's success: all the actors deliver delightful performances, from Geoffrey Rush as Henslowe, Judi Dench (Oscar winner for this performance) as a complete scene-stealer Queen Elizabeth, Joseph Fiennes who gives Shakespeare a charisma that make people wonder if the real Shakespeare could have had and Gwyneth Paltrow, in her Oscar-winning performance as Viola, who assumes the risk of playing not one, but four characters and makes it in a wonderful way.

The production values, such as Sandy Powell's magnificent costume design, Stephen Warbeck's beautiful score also give the movie the necessary credibility and immerse the audience into a possibly not 100% historically accurate, but undeniably fantastic experience that makes us believe inspiration is possible to find.