On day #16 in my 34 Days of Oscar, I saw the movie "Anonymous" starring Rhys Ifans, Vanessa Redgrave, Joley Richardson and David Thewlis. This movie is currently nominated for an Academy Award for Best Costume Design."Anonymous" is based on an idea: What if William Shakespeare never wrote the plays and sonnets he became famous for. This movie focuses on the Earl of Oxford, played by Ifans and his lifelong obsession with writing. In flashbacks, we see how the young Earl became a lover of Queen Elizabeth I (Joley Richardson) and eventually fathers a son with the Queen. In present Elizabethan day, the
writing and performance of plays is suppressed. The Earl asks the playwright, young Ben Johnson, to perform his new play "Henry V" and pass it off as Johnson's. When Johnson balks at this, a drunken illiterate actor by the name of William Shakespeare hops on stage and takes credit for the success of this play. As the Queen gets older and closer to death, the Earl begins to write plays, using Shakespeare's name, to help sway public opinion in the direction of whom he would like to see succeed Elizabeth.
writing and performance of plays is suppressed. The Earl asks the playwright, young Ben Johnson, to perform his new play "Henry V" and pass it off as Johnson's. When Johnson balks at this, a drunken illiterate actor by the name of William Shakespeare hops on stage and takes credit for the success of this play. As the Queen gets older and closer to death, the Earl begins to write plays, using Shakespeare's name, to help sway public opinion in the direction of whom he would like to see succeed Elizabeth. For those Shakespearean purists out there, the main plot of "Anonymous" is just an idea and the movie provides no actual proof that this is the "true" story of 
Shakespeare's works. This lack of proof is one of the problems I have with the story. As entertainment, it is successful in showing a story that I have not seen before. I thought the performances, especially that of Rhys Ifans, were good and the sets and costumes were quite good as well. I thought that the writer of the screenplay did a poor job in setting the stage for this story though. This story was way more convoluted and complex than necessary. At times, this story was a flashback in a flashback in the flashback of a flashback!! The bookends of the movie, set in present day 
New York with Derek Jacobi, are pointless and seem to be only trying to use Jacobi's status as a famous Shakespearean actor to give the movie some credibility. The running time was too long and needed a better editor to cut 20 or more minutes out to make the story flow better. The costumes in "Anonymous" have been nominated this year for an Academy Award for Best Costume Design. Although all of the costumes looked fine, I could see nothing here that set these outfits apart from other movies set in the same period. I though the Earl of Oxford's outfits were well made and did stand out from the others, but other than his and the outfits they gave to the older Queen Elizabeth (Vanessa Redgrave) there were no real standouts that I can remember.
Shakespeare's works. This lack of proof is one of the problems I have with the story. As entertainment, it is successful in showing a story that I have not seen before. I thought the performances, especially that of Rhys Ifans, were good and the sets and costumes were quite good as well. I thought that the writer of the screenplay did a poor job in setting the stage for this story though. This story was way more convoluted and complex than necessary. At times, this story was a flashback in a flashback in the flashback of a flashback!! The bookends of the movie, set in present day 
New York with Derek Jacobi, are pointless and seem to be only trying to use Jacobi's status as a famous Shakespearean actor to give the movie some credibility. The running time was too long and needed a better editor to cut 20 or more minutes out to make the story flow better. The costumes in "Anonymous" have been nominated this year for an Academy Award for Best Costume Design. Although all of the costumes looked fine, I could see nothing here that set these outfits apart from other movies set in the same period. I though the Earl of Oxford's outfits were well made and did stand out from the others, but other than his and the outfits they gave to the older Queen Elizabeth (Vanessa Redgrave) there were no real standouts that I can remember. 
Overall, I give "Anonymous" 2 out of 5 stars. It was a run of the mill movie that had good acting performances and good production value. This is one of those movies that begins to fade from your memory as soon as you're done watching it. If you are a big Shakespeare fan, as I am, it might be interesting to see this interpretation. Outside of that there is no real reason to visit this version of history.
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