Check Out the Trailer

This is a fairly standard romance rapped in a fascinating cloak. Set in 1660s England when only men were allowed to act on stage, the film follows Ned Kynaston (Billy Crudup, ALMOST FAMOUS), the most famous female impersonator.

His assistant Maria (Claire Danes, ROMEO & JULIET) studies every overwrought gesture that Kynaston does. One night she pays a shabby pub for the opportunity to play Desdemona in OTHELLO. This performance starts a sensation through London, spurring King Charles II (Rupert Everett, MY BEST FRIEND’S WEDDING) to outlaw men playing women on the stage. We witness Ned and Maria’s attraction for each, which is torn apart by his declining career and her rising stardom.

The cast is filled with fun characters including Ned’s theater owner Betterton (Tom Wilkinson, IN THE BEDROOM), Charles’ mistress and wanna-be actress Nell Gwynn (Zoe Tapper, TV’s HEX), Maria’s portly patron Sir Charles Sedley (Richard Griffiths, HARRY POTTER films) and Ned’s lover George Villiars, Duke of Buckingham (Ben Chaplin, MURDER BY NUMBERS).

All the acting in the film is excellent. Everett is especially good as a complex and layered characterization of Charles II. The final portrayal of OTHELLO’s death scene by Crudup and Danes is quite moving. The movie can be funny and raunchy and moving from moment to moment. It’s never boring and as I said before the acting is that main reason to see this film.