This was the first costume drama of the week and really a lot of fun. It is a tale of Elizabethan court intrigue layered over the theory that Shakespeare’s plays were really written by the Earl of Oxford – Edward De Vere. Ben Johnson is the go between carrying the plays to the Globe theatre where a rather poor but wily actor William Shakespeare took all the credit. The movie is directed by Robert Emmerich who has done such classics 😛 as 2012, 10,000 B.C., The Day After Tomorrow and Independence Day. The latter is classic trash but the others are not so great. So this movie is bit a of a change for him although he plays fast and loose with the history and even the “Shakespeare didn’t really write those plays” theories. Nonetheless he creates a great atmosphere and has some good actors to work with including Vanessa Redgrave and Elizabeth, Rhys Ifans as the Earl and Sebastian Armesto as Ben Jonson. Although it doesn’t have any aliens seeking to destroy the world or other cataclysmic events and it’s a bit long and over dramatic, basically I liked it. If it’s a cold night out this winter and you have nothing else to do then definitely do up some popcorn and enjoy this bit of fluff.