Movie reviews, production notes, and more! - "Elizabeth: The Golden Age"

Movie Review: Elizabeth: The Golden Age

Film Review By Michael Phillips, Tribune Movie Critic Sometimes a performer must stoop to conquer her own historical epic. Laurence Olivier did so in that great 20th century saga "The Betsy." And Cate Blanchett acts the 16th century living Protestant daylights out of "Elizabeth: The Golden Age." It is a silly film about serious matters, challenged by a multiple-personality disorder - multiple multiple-personality disorders, in fact - but more or less saved from pure nonsense by Blanchett. This fabulous Australian-born actress is a positive Brit when it comes to combining classical technique and zesty interpretive relish. Whether acting the flirt, the spurned lover or the fearsome warrior maiden, she's the only thing that cuts through this sequel's visual bombast and its insistence on more action, more stuff, more storms at sea, more romantic turmoil on terra firma. A big hit in 1998, director Shekhar Kapur's first "Elizabeth" was no blushing flower. This time, though, the passions and intrigues are purple beyond purple, halfway to Bollywood in its mixture of eye-rolling, teeth-gnashing Catholics, and a thousand nautical miles beyond the average seafaring adventure in its climax. The film cannot wait to unfurl the sails on its computer-generated ships and gleeful historical reinventions, ... read more Official Web Site: http://www.elizabeththegoldenage.net/ Back to main movie page Showing Today at: Click here for other showings