79. All Is True; movie review

ALL IS TRUE
Cert 12A
101 mins
BBFC advice: Contains infrequent strong language, moderate sex references

All is true? Really? No, probably not.
Kenneth Branagh and his pal Ben Elton have combined to concoct 101 minutes of self-indulgence about the least-interesting period of William Shakespeare's life.
I was hoping for some revelations which would have given me a greater understanding of the bard.
Instead, Branagh cuts a strangely bewildered figure as Shakespeare who retired to his Stratford garden in the wake of a devastating fire during a performance which destroyed the Globe Theatre.
To be fair, the demise of the Globe is factual - the rest of the film can be taken with a giant pinch of salt.
In All Is True, Shakespeare has been away from home for 20 years while creating the most famous theatrical and writing career the world has ever seen.
During that time, his son and only heir has been taken by the plague and his family, while well-off, has been fractured.
On his return, his wife Anne (Judi Dench) is cool towards him while one daughter, Judith (Kathryn Wilder, is a resentful spinster and the other (Lydia Wilson) is unfaithful to her overbearing Puritan husband (Hadley Fraser).
Shakespeare is ill-equipped to handle such a maelstrom of family discontent or local gossip and so tries to escape to the garden he is creating in remembrance of his son.
Thereafter, the Earl of Southampton (Ian McKellen) turns up to try to prise him out of retirement but, instead, he becomes embroiled in family disgrace and squabbles.
Branagh is strangely out of tune as Shakespeare and appears to need propping up by the ever-reliable Dench and Wilder who is the stand-out for me.
Perhaps he struggled to pitch the bard because this Shakespeare is so out of keeping with the one we know for his masterful writing.
Or, dare I muse that he realised the whole All Is True enterprise was folly and he couldn't muster the sort of performance which was required to save it.

Reasons to watch: It's Kenneth Branagh doing Shakespeare
Reasons to avoid: It's the least interesting time of the bard's life

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 4.5/10

Did you know? Shakespeare married his wife Anne Hathaway when he was 18. She was 26 and three months pregnant with Shakespeare’s child when they married. Their first child Susanna was born six months after the wedding.

The final word. Kenneth Branagh: "I would’ve been so proud to have shown this to my folks. They would’ve definitely taken a view on the life of a family working through some kind of crisis." Deadline

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