Is this based on a true story? That is the deeper mystery behind the tale playing out in front of us, if you can pay attention to that intrigue with all of the sex and battle for power trying to grab your eyeballs. Set in Elizabethan England (late 1500's/early 1600's), Rhys Ifans stars as Edward De Vere - the Earl of Oxford who loves the theater, even though it is seen as a pit of revolt, mocking of those in power and a breach of morals. As part of the royal family, Edward cannot openly participate in productions, but, secretly, has been writing plays for years, even entertaining Queen Elizabeth I before all of the crackdowns.
Sensing the opportunity for revolution through the power of the pen and the stage, Edward starts slipping his plays to a theater owner, Ben Johnson (Sebastian Armesto), with the promise the true playwright's name will not be revealed. Ben keeps his word, attributing the works to Anonymous. However, the situation becomes sticky when an opportunistic, buffoonish actor, William Shakespeare (Rafe Spall), claims the works as his own as they become more popular.
Can Edward keep the secret?
Will a revolution against Queen Elizabeth be successful?
Anonymous is full of so many soap opera twists and turns you would have thought Shakespeare or Aaron Spelling came up with the plot. Unfortunately, director Roland Emmerich needs to help the audience follow the various stories and characters.
We are bounced around from time period to time period to see Edward as a younger man, the relationships he formed with others in the movie and some odd plot to takeover the castle or start a revolution or something, but it is difficult to follow the story as we jump around. A couple times, I found myself confused about which character was which as we watched one scene with younger ones, followed by another scene with their older counterparts, then some other scene with characters I don't remember seeing before.
However, Anonymous, playing on a theory debated and discussed for years, does keep you interested as a thriller as De Vere tries to keep his secret safe, and Shakespeare becomes a dangerous opportunist. Spall finds plenty of moments to give us a chuckle and portray Shakespeare in a way we have never really seen before, while Ifans is a solid leading man who gives the audience some good emotions during the big climax.
2 ½ Waffles (Out of 4)
Anonymous is rated PG-13 for some violence and sexual content
Will a revolution against Queen Elizabeth be successful?
Anonymous is full of so many soap opera twists and turns you would have thought Shakespeare or Aaron Spelling came up with the plot. Unfortunately, director Roland Emmerich needs to help the audience follow the various stories and characters.
We are bounced around from time period to time period to see Edward as a younger man, the relationships he formed with others in the movie and some odd plot to takeover the castle or start a revolution or something, but it is difficult to follow the story as we jump around. A couple times, I found myself confused about which character was which as we watched one scene with younger ones, followed by another scene with their older counterparts, then some other scene with characters I don't remember seeing before.
However, Anonymous, playing on a theory debated and discussed for years, does keep you interested as a thriller as De Vere tries to keep his secret safe, and Shakespeare becomes a dangerous opportunist. Spall finds plenty of moments to give us a chuckle and portray Shakespeare in a way we have never really seen before, while Ifans is a solid leading man who gives the audience some good emotions during the big climax.
2 ½ Waffles (Out of 4)
Anonymous is rated PG-13 for some violence and sexual content
