Originally written: 1 April 2012 IMDB: 7.3 Rotten Tomatoes: 93% Roger Ebert: 4/4 Stars Release Date: 25 December 1998 Stars: Gwyneth Paltrow, Joseph Fiennes, Geofrey Rush, Colin Firth, Ben Affleck, Judi Dench Written By: Marc Norman, Tom Stoppard, Directed By: John Madden Described my IMDB as " Romantic comedy set in London in the late 16th century: Young playwright William Shakespeare struggles with his latest work "Romeo and Ethel the Pirate's Daughter". A great fan of Shakespeare's plays is young, wealthy Viola who is about to be married to the cold-hearted Lord Wessex, but constantly dreams of becoming an actress. Women were not allowed to act on stage at that time (female roles were played by men, too), but dressed up as a boy, Viola successfully auditions for the part of Romeo. Soon she and William are caught in a forbidden romance that provides rich inspiration for his play."