The inevitable comparison for this movie is to Shakespeare in Love if only because it is about seventeenth century actors performing Shakespeare from moviemakers whom are more interested in the dramatic potentials of this than historical accuracy. And they're both love stories. But wheras Shakespeare in Love was too-clever-by-far (which, frankly, is not a problem for me) and devolves as much into a spot-the-connection puzzle with 1930s romantic comedy elements, the makers of Stage Beauty go for an interesting character portrayal as the heart of their movie, and the clever bits and romance are only stage dressing that adorns this beauty. Mr. Kynaston (Billy Crudup in a masterful portrayal) is an actor at the top of his chosen profession: portraying the women's parts in Elizabethean drama (mainly Desdemona, although other roles are aluded to). Maria/Mrs. Margaret Hughes (Claire Danes) is his adoring dresser, who has watched him so closely that she can mimic his part, useful in her desire to be the first woman to perform in English theater, which she does. Kynaston's egoism regading his profession along with his cynical nature leads him to make several enemies who take advantage of their positions to have him beaten, then to have the king reverse the ban on women in the theater as well as banning men from assuming women's roles. Kynaston's fall from grace mirrors Maria's rise, but that's only half the movie. Although your sympathies are with Maria--the much more likeable character--it is Kynaston who undergoes the biggest transformation and provides the movie with both pathos and message.

I was surprised I liked the movie as much as I did. I think I expected more of a costume drama, tied to its historical time and place, and for the sympathies to solely be with the male actor, displaced by the march of progress. That it was neither, and yet had echoes of this, was the surprise. If anything, the entire character set grew from the events that took place, and while some were hurt in the process, they all came out better and stronger, and that's a pretty unusual story.