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escoheag
IMDb member since November 2004
Reviews
Richard III (1995)
Exceptional performances enhance timeless themes.
14 November 2004 - 23 out of 32 users found this review helpful.
Many productions throughout the years have presented Shakespeare in updated formats in order to make his plays more
contemporary with varying results. This production is one of the
most successful. Sir Ian McKellan's extraordinary performance
makes his character, although thoroughly self-serving, incredibly
magnetic. The film is enhanced by many other exceptional
performances, most notably by Robert Downey Jr., Jim Broadbent
and Kristin Scott Thomas. The setting makes the story more
realistic to modern viewers, which helps it to avoid the stiff, stagy
quality seen in most productions of this work. Making
Shakespeare more accessible to today's viewers without
butchering his amazing language is no mean feat, but this film
accomplishes it handily.
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