DVD Review: ANONYMOUS

ANONYMOUS (2012)

DVD Review by David Blackwell

DETAILS: 130 minutes, deleted scenes, audio commentary, Who Is The Real Shakespeare? featurette

VIDEO: 2.35:1 (Anamorphic Widescreen)

AUDIO: English 5.1, French 5.1, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital), English DVS

Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Spanish, Chinese

STUDIO: SPHE/ Columbia Pictures/ Relativity Media/ Centropolis Entertainment/ Studio Babelsberg

RELEASE DATE: 2-7-2012

ANONYMOUS speculates about who authored the plays of William Shakespeare. Was it really Shakespeare or was he just a front taking all the credit when the Earl Of Oxford was the real author? ANONYMOUS explores this debated issue along with weaving a tale about conspiracy, rebellion, politics, love, and incest. Regardless of whether you question the authorship of Shakespeare's plays, you get a multi-layered drama which reflects on the period on where this all happened. I didn't like the framing device of a theater guy played by Derek Jacobi introducing the film and ending it in the present time. I felt they could have left out the present day framing device and placed the entire film in the time of Queen Elizabeth and William Shakespeare.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Audio commentary with Director Ronald Emmerich and Writer John Orloff. They talk about the time period the film took place in along with the real history of the times and the production of the film itself.

WHO IS THE REAL SHAKESPEARE is a ten minute featurette as cast and crew debate about the authorship and mystery behind who wrote the plays of William Shakespeare. Also included are three deleted scenes which don't add anything to the film and thankfully cut for pacing.

FINAL ANALYSIS: ANONYMOUS is an interesting mix of drama and mystery despite its' imperfections. The audio commentary is the best extra and worth listening to despite the occasional patting on the back by each commentator.

this DVD review is (c)2-10-2012 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission. send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com