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| | ScreenWriter: | Jeffrey Hatcher | | Director: | Richard Eyre | | Starring: | Billy Crudup, Claire Danes, Rupert Everett, Tom Wilkinson, Ben Chaplin, Hugh Bonneville, Richard Griffiths, Edward Fox, Tom Hollander, Clare Higgins, Fenella Woolgar, Alice Eve, Zoe Tapper | | Genre: | Drama | | Company: | Lions Gate Films | | Release Date: | 29 - 10 - 2004 | | Rating: | N/A | | Official WebSite: | Visit Website | | Photos/MovieStills: | View Images [15 Images Found] |
| | Storyline: | | Actor Edward "Ned" Kynaston (Crudup) may well be the most desired man in all of London. The Restoration is in full swing, and enthusiastic audiences of aristocrats and commoners pack the theatres that were shuttered during the Puritans' joyless rule. With only men permitted to tread the boards, the greatest ardor is reserved for the actor who is the complete "female stage beauty" - and indisputably, Ned Kynaston is that actor. Lusted after by women and men alike, Ned commands all the perks of a star; at the same time, he is a dedicated actor who runs lines with his stage dresser Maria (Danes), who quietly adores him. Every night, Ned's death scene as Desdemona in "Othello" stops the show. But the winds of change are blowing - and they sound like the rustling of women's skirts. Ironically, it is Maria who ushers in a new era with her pseudonymous portrayal of Desdemona in an after-hours pub production of "Othello." After years of men-as-women, Maria is a sensation, a novelty whose time has come. King Charles II (Everett), prodded by his saucy, stage-struck mistress Nell Gwynn (Zoe Tapper), not only overturns the ban on actresses but also prohibits men from playing female roles. Overnight, Ned's career is ruined as a host of fledgling actresses take on the parts that he once owned body and soul. Ned is headed for a has-been's twilight in tawdry attractions - that is, until Maria takes it upon herself to make an actor of him again. Finally, the masks fall away to reveal Ned and Maria's true feelings, but not before Ned undergoes a profound inner journey to discover his complete identity. |
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Reviews |
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| | | Reviewer: | tim keenan | Date: | 9/15/2004 2:47:02 PM | | Subject: | stage beauty |
| | OK so historical accuracy is not the point - witness the disclaimer at the end of the film - but when history is SO distorted what is the point? Compared to Shakespeare In Love which played wittily with historical verisimilitude this is a leaden dud. It's attempts at cheek, for example Charles II as a future Charles III, fall so flat it places emphasis on what is left and what is left is some very confused messages about stage history and the relationship of acting to real life. Personally I couldn't get beyond the bizarre claim made by the film that Nell Gwynne became an actress because she was the king's mistress when the opposite was the case. She was a brilliant, witty comic actress just read Pepys. Oh and why must she always be played as a cockney barrow girl? She was clever, funny, and probably still had her Welsh accent. | | This text refers to the Stage Beauty Theatrical Edition |
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Copyright Program material © Lions Gate Films |
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