History YMMV / ShakespeareInLove

* OneSceneWonder: Creator/JudiDench as Queen Elizabeth I. Eight minutes of screentime total, and one entirely deserved Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.

* ComedyGhetto: The last comedy to win Best Picture until the BlackComedy ''Film/BirdmanOrTheUnexpectedVirtueOfIgnorance'', which came out in 2014. This film was released in 1998.

* FandomRivalry: An infamous one with Saving Private Ryan, which Weinstein' campaign sought to discredit and beat in what's widely seen as an AwardSnub.

* AwardSnub:
** According to some, this was what ''Film/SavingPrivateRyan'' was snubbed in favor of, allegedly due to a campaign by Creator/{{Miramax}}. A campaign so effective, in fact, the Academy members are said to have actually booed the latter film. Needless to say, the film gets A LOT of hate for said snub. [[Theatre/{{Hamlet}} Rejection, thy name is]] ''[[Theatre/{{Hamlet}} Ryan]]''.
** Likewise, Creator/GwynethPaltrow winning the UsefulNotes/AcademyAward for Best Actress instead of the (at the time) relatively unknown Creator/CateBlanchett for ''{{Film/Elizabeth}}''.
** There are (to a lesser extent) some who feel that Creator/BenAffleck should have got a Best Supporting Actor nomination, but it was Creator/GeoffreyRush who was recognised for this.
** Basically, the only award that ''everyone'' agrees on is Dame Judi Dench's Best Supporting Actress win.

* CriticalBacklash: Related to the AwardSnub above, the movie is considered a good production, just not one to win a particularly stacked year for the Academy Awards because [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney its producer lobbied hard and dirty for it]].

** In Ned Alleyn's introductory scene, he enthusiastically rattles off a list of leading roles that he's played in Marlowe's plays, then dismissively adds that he also played [[Theatre/HenryVI King Henry VI]] when he notices Shakespeare in earshot. If you're familiar with the ''Henry VI'' trilogy, you can understand why Ned might not think highly of the role: Henry VI is a glorified side character in the play named for him, as the play is actually about the fracturing of the English nobility in the UsefulNotes/WarsOfTheRoses; Henry had almost no notable accomplishments to his name, and he's largely remembered as [[NeverLiveItDown the incompetent weakling who allowed England to descend into Civil War because he couldn't control his nobles]].

* OvershadowedByControversy: For years if this film is mentioned, it's for Miramax's infamous Oscar campaign and the eventual perceived AwardSnub of this against ''Film/SavingPrivateRyan'' and ''{{Film/Elizabeth}}''.
** It also doesn't help that Harvey Weinstein was later fired from his own company for sexual harassment, with Gwyneth Paltrow among his victims. Every picture of her awkwardly smiling next to him at the Academy Awards paints this movie's nomination in an even more uncomfortable light.

* VindicatedByHistory: For years, the film got a torrent of hate for the infamous AwardSnub. These days the hate has levelled off and people are more appreciative of it.
** However, the recent behind-the-scenes controversy surrounding Harvey Weinstein is likely going to tarnish the film for many.

* NeverLiveItDown: The fact that it took home the Best Picture Award over ''Saving Private Ryan'' of all films has proven a contentious point for more than a few moviegoers over the years.

** The one aversion with this film? Dame Judi Dench, whose [[OneSceneWonder Oscar for Best Supporting Actress]] is entirely undisputed.

* ComedyGhetto: The last comedy to win Best Picture until the BlackComedy ''Film/{{Birdman}}'', which came out in 2014. This film was released in 1998.

** According to some, this was what ''Film/SavingPrivateRyan'' was snubbed in favor of, allegedly due to a campaign by Miramax. A campaign so effective, in fact, the Academy members are said to have actually booed the latter film. Needless to say, the film gets A LOT of hate for said snub. [[Theatre/{{Hamlet}} Rejection, thy name is]] ''[[Theatre/{{Hamlet}} Ryan]]''.
** Likewise, Creator/GwynethPaltrow winning the Oscar for Best Actress instead of the (at the time) relatively unknown Creator/CateBlanchett for ''{{Film/Elizabeth}}''.

** Likewise, Creator/GwynethPaltrow winning the Oscar for Best Actress in favour of the (at the time) relatively unknown Creator/CateBlanchett for ''{{Film/Elizabeth}}''.

* OneSceneWonder: Creator/JudiDench as Queen Elizabeth I. Eight minutes of screentime total, and one Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.

* HypeBacklash: {{Inverted|Trope}}. People seem to forget it's quite a good movie due to anger over the Best Picture win. Among Rotten Tomatoes' Top Critics, its Tomatometer and average review score are nearly identical to ''Ryan'''s.
** [[https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/12/shakespeare-in-love-and-harvey-weinsteins-dark-oscar-victory The recent allegations against Weinstein seems to have reignited the flames of hatred against this film, and view by many with a dark history]].

** The recent allegations against Weinstein seems to have reignited the flames of hatred against this film, and view by many with a dark history https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/12/shakespeare-in-love-and-harvey-weinsteins-dark-oscar-victory

** According to some, this was what ''Film/SavingPrivateRyan'' was snubbed in favor of, allegedly due to a campaign by Miramax. A campaign so effective, in fact, the Academy members are said to have actually booed the latter film. Needless to say, the film gets A LOT of hate for said snub. [[Theatre/{{Hamlet}} Rejection, thy name is]] ''[[Theatre/{{Hamlet}} Ryan.]]''
** Likewise Creator/GwynethPaltrow winning the Oscar for Best Actress in favour of (at the time) the relatively unknown Creator/CateBlanchett for ''{{Film/Elizabeth}}''.

* ComedyGhetto: The last comedy to win Best Picture until the BlackComedy ''{{Birdman}}'', which came out in 2014. This film was released in 1998.
* GeniusBonus:

** Other than ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'', the three Shakespeare plays explicitly referenced in this film are ''Theatre/TwoGentlemenOfVerona'' (which the actors are shown performing), ''Theatre/HenryVI'' and ''Theatre/TitusAndronicus'' (which are both mentioned in dialogue). If you're familiar with the timeline of Shakespeare's career, this should immediately make it clear that the movie takes place at an early point in his life. Scholars generally agree that those are three of Shakespeare's earliest plays, and that one of them was probably the very first play he ever wrote (though it's almost impossible to know ''which'' one). [[note]] Dating is rather inexact, since most plays in the Elizabethan era weren't actually published until long after they were written, and after they had already been performed for years. But by comparing the plays and analyzing their composition, scholars have at least managed to develop a rough idea of which plays came first.[[/note]]
** Every trope that happens in this movie - SweetPollyOliver, KingIncognito, etc. - refers to similar tropes that pop up - often repeatedly - in Shakespeare's plays.
* HilariousInHindsight:
** The Earldom of Wessex hadn't existed for nine hundred years when this movie came out with a fictional Lord Wessex as the villain; a year after the film's release, Prince Edward was created Earl of Wessex on his marriage.

* HypeBacklash: [[InvertedTrope Inverted.]] People seem to forget it's quite a good movie due to anger over the Best Picture win. Among Rotten Tomatoes' Top Critics, its Tomatometer and average review score are nearly identical to ''Ryan'''s.

* TheyCopiedItSoItSucks: There was some controversy at the time of the film's release due to its alleged similarity to the mid-20th-century novel ''No Bed For Bacon'' by Caryl Brahms and S J Simon.
* VindicatedByHistory: For years the film got a torrent of hate for the infamous AwardSnub. These days the hate has levelled off and people are more appreciative of it.
** However the recent behind-the-scenes controversy surrounding Harvey Weinstein is likely going to tarnish the film for many.

* VindicatedByHistory: For years the film got a torrent of hate for the infamous AwardSnub. These days the hate has levelled off and people are more appreciative of it.