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Twelfth Night

1996, Movie, PG, 125 mins

Twelfth Night: Review

Shakespeare's comedy of mistaken identity has enough plot for several movies, most of it hinging on misdirected sexual desire. Identical twins Viola (Imogen Stubbs) and Sebastian (Stephen Mackintosh) are separated in a shipwreck. He's presumed drowned, and she finds refuge in the court of lovesick Duke Orsino (Toby Stephens) by masquerading as a boy, then gets stuck in a frightful mess when the Duke -- with whom she's fallen in love -- dispatches her to help him woo the Lady Olivia (Helena Bonham Carter), who instead falls in love with her. And that's not the half of it: There are servants with designs on their social betters, a fool whose inane utterances are filled with wisdom, foolish puritans, rich twits and a gay man who gets left out of the happy ending: If it hadn't been written nearly 400 years ago, the temptation would be to call it a compendium of today's trendy topics. The shame of it is that director Trevor Nunn -- who lead the Royal Shakespeare Company for 20 years -- gives the whole brittle business such a stodgy veneer that only occasionally does its lacerating wit show through. Where is Preston Sturges when we need him? leave a comment