Shakespeare in Love

In late 16th Century London, the theatre's most promising young playwright, Will Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes), is suffering from writer's block. Rose Theatre owner Philip Henslowe (Geoffrey Rush) is desperate that Will's new play - tentatively entitled Romeo and Ethel the Pirate's Daughter - be finished, whilst a new cast member, Thomas Kent, is equally eager to make his stage debut. Kent has a secret however: 'he' is actually Viola De Lesseps (Gwyneth Paltrow), merchant's daughter and fiancé of Lord Wessex (Colin Firth). Adopting a disguise to enter a trade forbidden to women, matters become complicated when Will falls for her in her more conventional garb. It may take the intervention of Queen Elizabeth (Judi Dench) herself to make sure the course of true love runs smoothly and that the show goes on. (Universal Pictures UK)