Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with another look at STAGE BEAUTY from someone with a slightly different opinion than the Keen Guy's review from yesterday. I myself thought SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE was overrated, but loved the concept to death, so I'm all for someone taking a similar concept and doing something different with it. What do you folks think?
Hi, Harry. I don't know if this is of any interest, but I thought I'd e-mail just in case. I just read the review posted by The Keen Guy about Stage Beauty. I don't know that I was at the same screening that he went to, but I just saw the movie myself (yesterday - Sunday, 10/3 in Scottsdale, AZ). I don't recall anyone in the group that remained after the movie to discuss saying that it was one of the best films of the year, but it was mentioned that it was better than Shakespeare in Love. I don't know that I'd go so far as to say that - despite some similar subject matter and cast in common, they're very different films - so I don't know that the comparison is very apt, though I did like both films very much.
Shakespeare In Love is more of a romantic comedy than Stage Beauty. The latter film was far less glossy and much more of a period drama/character study. To that end, I found the characters to be engaging and well-drawn, and the performances by Billy Crudup and Claire Danes typically terrific. Unlike The Keen Guy, I did feel for those characters and I thought the film as a whole did a good job revealing the contrasts between how we view the opposite sex and how we are seen by others and how we view ourselves - the mirrors we use. Rupert Everett's scene-chewing as King Charles was quite funny (the gang of spaniels surrounding him at all times especially tickled me). Ben Chaplin's performance as the Duke of Buckingham had a weight to it that I can't recall ever seeing from him before. And Hugh Bonneville was just sweetly perfect as Samuel Pepys. Somehow he managed to steal every scene he was in without being the least bit pushy about it.
I thought the film kept a nice forward motion throughout. It never seemed to drag. The music (by George Fenton, according to the flyer that was provided) was particularly effective in keeping the momentum going. (Although there was one particularly wonderful scene with no music at all where Billy Crudup was practicing his pantomime in front of an empty theatre and Claire Danes shadowed his every gesture from the wings.) I liked how it wasn't too treacly and the loose ends weren't entirely tied up before the final credits rolled, even though it still had a pretty happy ending. And it was nice, for once, to sit in the discussion and hear that other people in attendance liked the movie, too. Sometimes I leave thinking that I'm the only one who had any fun. (The I Heart Huckabees discussion last time, for example, wasn't nearly as positive, although we were told that our group rated the film much higher than did Boston - go figure. I, myself, loved-loved-loved it!)
Anyway, thanks for the site, Harry. I've been enjoying it for years now and still find it to be, well, cool. 8^)
- Jennifer
