Merchant of Venice, The  (2004)

Starring: Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons, Joseph Fiennes

Director: Michael Radford

Rating: R

Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics

Release Date: 12.29.04

Review Posted: 01.14.05

By George Schmidt

Pacino has a field day as Shylock; one of the better Shakespeare adaptations for the masses

Maybe it's just me and the fact that in high school, believe it or not, Shakespeare got the short end of the stick when it came down to lit in general, but I don't particularly care for The Bard. I can only recall skimming through "Romeo & Juliet" in English class with the teacher going full broke in one class the entire play!

Be that as it may Michael Radford ("Il Postino") has directed a handsomely produced, shrewdly cast and fairly easy to follow adaptation of the classic in historical/cultural experimentation of how the Jews were depicted in 16th Century Europe, specifically the titular city of water.

The story about a merchant named Bassanio (Fiennes) who acts as a go-between with his good friend Antonio (Irons) and the Jewish money lender Shylock (Pacino having a field day and avoids pushing the envelope in his usual blustery, volcanic turns that seemed to have cooled off lately onscreen, thankfully) who winds up being shortchanged (in general) and demanding the notorious "pound of flesh" for the failure of restitution. To add insult to injury his only beloved daughter Jessica (the exquisitely gorgeous Zuleikha Robinson, late of the "X-Files" spin-off "The Lone Gunmen") runs away to be with a forbidden Christian love.

Also on hand is Portia (Lynn Collins, resembling a combo of Gwyneth Paltrow and Cate Blanchett) a lady in waiting that eventually Bassanio comes to call upon and adds more to the mixture at play.

The sets, costumes, cinematography are all top notch with kudos respectively to Bruno Rubeo, Sammy Sheldon and Benoit Delhomme that far exceed what was anticipated in its opulence and grandeur as well as the entire production shot on location in Luxembourg and indeed in Venice.

The only problem I had - and I do know the history of how women portrayed men in many of Shakespeare's plays at the time - was the use of Portia and her lady in waiting Nerissa (Heather Goldenhersh) in the final act; it was just very frustrating for me to accept that they were duping their men unknowingly.

Otherwise for an average Joe this cinematic adaptation is nimble enough and fairly easy to comprehend and with its strong cast should be one that stands the test of time.

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