Shakespeare in Love (1998)

Gwyneth Paltrow and Ben Affleck in the same film is enough to have me running hurriedly in the opposite direction, but there are exceptions to every rule, even when the rules are of my own making.
Shakespeare in Love is a costumed comedy of romance set in the days when just walking under a window was a hazardous activity. Will (Joseph Fiennes) is without a muse and his writing is suffering. His patrons are without a play to stage and their pockets are shrinking. Everything hinges on the bard overcoming his block, but instead of turning his attentions to paper and quill, like fortune's fool he turns them instead toward a woman he can’t have.
The excellent script weaves a fanciful reality with literary fiction, causing lateral friction for everyone and never once overstays its welcome.

4 stolen measures out of 5