Wolff rating: EXCELLENT
Plot summary: A young playwright, working on ``Romeo and Ethel the Pirate's Daughter'' has run aground, and is looking for inspiration.
Biased, pithy comments: Oh, wow, what a film. Though hardly a documentary (this story is clearly fiction; I could ruin it by saying how fictional it is, but I won't), it's wonderful. Penned by Tom Stoppard (``Rosencrantz and Gildenstern are Dead'') and Marc Norman (responsible for, uh, well, ``Cutthroat Island''), the script both humorously and deeply examines the reality and fantasy of the theater---do we see real emotions on stage? If so, where do they come from? It also is a wonderful, tear-jerking love story at the same time. By the time the play is being performed, it's truly knee-shakingly good (with a nod to William Shakespeare, of course). See this movie; it's what most art-house films strive for and miss.
Other Notes: Judi Dench *is* Queen Elizabeth.
How many times I have seen it: x1
Starring: Joseph Fiennes, Gwyneth Paltrow, Geoffrey Rush, Ben Affleck, Colin Firth, Judi Dench.
Directed by: John Madden