Full Review

Very much in the mode of "Shakespeare in Love," in its bustling view of life behind and in front of the curtains, Richard Eyre's film begins with Kynaston at the height of his fame, giving a performance of Desdemona to adoring crowds, and quite stealing the show from his Othello.

Two awestruck society ladies invite him for a ride after the show, dressed in his female garments. It turns out they are more interested in whether he is really a man, "with all a man's parts." It is implied that he shows them. When they alight, Sir Charles Sedley (Richard Griffiths) mistakes the three for trollops and propositions Kynaston before realizing his error. Kynaston mocks him and leaves with bravado.

Kynaston has a faithful female dresser, Maria (Claire Danes), who watches his every move on stage from the wings, silently reciting his lines along with him. It's also clear that she secretly loves him. When Kynaston goes out, Maria takes some of his props to a neighboring theater and plays the part herself.

Kynaston eventually runs afoul of the establishment. The two society ladies and the lecherous Sir Charles entice him into St. James Park, where he is badly beaten for daring to mock those "above his station."

Maria's appearance as Desdemona -- more a novelty than a great performance -- creates a sensation, and comes to the attention of Charles II and his mistress, Nell Gwyn (Zoe Tapper). The monarch decides to allow women to appear on stage, so that Maria's career can continue unimpeded. When Kynaston vehemently refuses to appear onstage with her, especially after Maria gives a very bad audition with his old company run by Thomas Betterton (Tom Wilkinson), his misogynistic tirade is overheard by Nell who persuades Charles to forbid men impersonating women on the stage.

Kynaston -- now cut off from the only kind of acting he knows -- begins a humiliating decline.

The film is peopled with many colorful personages from history, including Samuel Pepys (Hugh Bonneville), who wrote about Kynaston in his diaries, and by a stellar cast including Edward Fox and Tom Hollander.

The story is told in a rip-roaring, lusty ambience, appropriate to the period. Kynaston is portrayed as a sexually confused young man, having been brought up by a tutor along with other "pretty boys," though as the story progresses he begins to fall for Maria's charms.

At the start, we see him in an amorous interlude with his patron, Villiars, Duke of Buckingham (Ben Chaplin), but it is made clear later that the lord is really only attracted to him "as a woman." Thus, though the film dabbles in sexual confusion, it ends with an affirmation of heterosexual sex. (And indeed, in real life, Kynaston eventually married and had children.)

Eyre plays up the rough-and-tumble bawdiness of the Restoration period, but much of the dialogue (by screenwriter Jeffrey Hatcher, based on his play, "Compleat Female Stage Beauty") has a contemporary ring. Hatcher has fiddled with history in the name of dramatic license.

Billy Crudup gives a mostly terrific performance -- good looking enough to be believable playing a woman and completely convincing as the pathetic creature he becomes. He and Danes -- as a sort of nicer Eve Harrington from "All About Eve" -- do well with their English accents and fit in smoothly with the real Brits in the cast. They lose some of their period authenticity by the end, though, when suddenly they seem like two very contemporary kids sorting out their problems. Whether the archaic acting styles shown here are the real McCoy is, perforce, conjecture. The dramatized -- and anachronistic -- transformation of acting styles from artificial to naturalistic doesn't quite ring true, though admittedly it makes for good drama.

Because of some violence, partial nudity, implied sexual situations, much gender-bending activity, an anti-clerical remark and rough and crude language, the USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R -- restricted.

These movies have been evaluated for artistic merit and moral suitability by the media reviewing division of Catholic News Service. The reviews include the CNS rating, the Motion Picture Association of America rating, and a brief synopsis of the movie.

The classifications are as follows:

A-I -- general patronage;
A-II -- adults and adolescents;
A-III -- adults;
L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. L replaces the previous classification, A-IV.
O -- morally offensive.

Note: Some movies previously were designated A-IV. Older films with this classification should be regarded as classified L.