Director Roland Emmerich has never been subtle. But his big-budget, CGI-laden movies at least cleave to the same tone throughout. In Anonymous, about 20 different – and jarring – notes are struck. Exploring the Oxfordian theory regarding the real author of the works of William Shakespeare, Anonymous boasts a terrific premise. Ultimately, though, it fails to blend its genres of political intrigue, period farce and romantic drama.
Stretching the Shakespearian allusions beyond the plot, Anonymous’ opening scene sees theatre actor and real-life Oxford native Derek Jacobi delivering a prologue to a modern theatre audience, transporting them back to 16th century England. It’s a clever device, but we are firmly in the realm of big-budget amateur theatre. The backdrops look stagey, the costuming is pantaloons by numbers, the dialogue stilted.
This feeling is heightened by Emmerich’s attempts to cram all of Shakespeare’s great archetypes into one bizarre mess. With a confusing dual timeline that pitches the pantomime jester of William Shakespeare (the hammy Rafe Spall) alongside the believably conflicted but horribly voiced Ben Johnson (Sebastian Armesto) and the frail Queen Elizabeth (a wonderful Vanessa Redgrave), there’s no sense of cohesion between the characters’ interactions or motivations. Before long you stop caring about them.
It’s a pity, as there are some great aspects to the film. As the “real” author of Shakespeare’s work, Rhys Ifans’ Earl of Oxford is humane and sympathetic. There are a few interesting plot devices, such as the use of Shakespeare’s plays to inspire an uprising. But in an 130-minute film, brief flashes of brilliance just aren’t enough.
The Bard once said that “pleasure and action make the hours seem short.” We know from 2012, The Day After Tomorrow and countless other films that Emmerich can do action, so let him return to it – for this overlong, jumbled film offered precious little pleasure for me.