The Merchant of Venice Reviews

Even though Al Pacino is mostly famous for playing gangsters and such characters, he is actually a great fan of Shakespeare and it clearly shows here. I mean, you have a rather interesting cast (Jeremy Irons, Joseph Fiennes, Lynn Collins), some decent directing by Michael Radford, some gorgeous sets and costums but, obviously, the main attraction here is the terrific performance by Al Pacino. He gives such a power to those great dialogs, it is just spellbinding to watch. A part from that, it is honestly not a really fascinating story, I'm afraid. Interesting, yes, fascinating, no. Sorry, William... Considering all the average flicks Al Pacino is showing up those days, we should be thankfull for this underrated and unknown gem. To conclude, it is a pretty good Shakespeare adaptation and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

It's a great story, with powerful characters, good dialogues, strong scenes. Blood and violence: Shakespeare confirms to be more "pulp" than modern pulp. But a great story is not enough, you have to be good at telling, and the story is too slow to do justice to the words, because getting bored takes away your attention. Some scenes are visually beautiful, but that's all. What really remains is Al Pacino, a perfect Shylock ready to eat the world and the neighbor.fierce even when accepts defeat. Actually, Pacino is the only true value of the film, the only reason to watch it.