Anonymous (2011)
Directed by Roland Emmerich
Set against the backdrop of the succession of Queen Elizabeth I, and the Essex Rebellion against her, the story advances the theory that it was in fact Edward De Vere, Earl of Oxford who penned Shakespeare's plays.
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When De Vere's plays begin to be performed as Shakespeare's, Elizabeth is being pressured by her council William Cecil (David Thewlis, "Naked," "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows") to choose her successor as he plots to make her own son, the Earl of Essex (Sam Reid), appear as the leader of a traitorous uprising.
The whole setup plays a little like " The Front " crossed with " Amadeus ," only not as good and a whole lot more vulgar than either.
Like the wittier "Amadeus," "Anonymous" is propelled by artistic jealousies among famous geniuses and their enemies.
Late in the movie there’s a suggestion of a lifelong Amadeus-style rivalry between De Vere and Ben Jonson, but the subplot is never developed enough to engage us in their relationship.
The younger Spall, who could pass for Joseph Fiennes’ portly cousin (remember when movie makers dreamed of Shakespeare in Love, not in larceny?), gives a giggly performance seemingly modeled on Tom Hulce’s Mozart in Amadeus.
Even though Emmerich is working with ostensibly more refined material here, the ham-handed touch of the man who gave us " The Day After Tomorrow " and " 2012 " is felt quite heavily throughout.
That's the question poised by the new movie from director Roland Emmerich, known for his sledgehammer style in the disaster dramas "Independence Day," "The Day After Tomorrow" and "2012."
Take the political intrigue of Elizabeth, add the backstage drama of Shakespeare in Love, and divide by the adherence to fact and logic that propelled 2012 and The Day After Tomorrow , and you'll have a reasonable sense of what to expect from Anonymous.
Surprisingly, this isn’t primarily the fault of director Emmerich, the disaster-movie specialist who gave us such blockbusters as “Independence Day’’ and “2012.’’
The adherents of that theory, known as Oxfordians, have found an energetic advocate in Emmerich (best known for such ballistic action pictures as "2012" and "Independence Day"), who has made "Anonymous" a sort of "JFK" for the 16th-century literary fringe.
Emmerich took a step in a different direction helming Anonymous, constructing a period drama with a limited budget instead of his usual popular big budget actioners like 2012, Independence Day, and Stargate.
Or Stargate, which asks, "What if ancient Egyptians populated a desert planet reachable only via cheesy special-effects?"
Roland Emmerich (Stargate, 10,000BC) must be on the agave nectar again, and I say rock on Roland.