Bill

2015

1h 34m

Adventure

Comedy

List

90%

20 Reviews

Tomatometer

60%

250+ Ratings

Audience Score

Hopeless lute player Bill Shakespeare leaves his home to follow his dream, explaining the "lost years" of Shakespeare.

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David N

Enjoyable family fun with the cast of Horrible Histories/Ghosts. The humour is along the same lines with some Monty Python undertones. A few laugh out loud parts but mainly smiles and chuckles along the way.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/25/24

Full Review

Audience Member

Improves as it moves along. Ends up "feeling good."

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/25/23

Full Review

Audience Member

--ABSOLUTE AND UTTER BILGE--PROBABLY THE LEAST HUMOUROUS COMEDY(??) IN THE HISTORY OF CINEMA--

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

01/14/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Not the best movie but the six idiots made me laugh all the same

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/01/23

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Ethan T

Bill departs from Horrible Histories in several ways, despite the persistence of the comedic tone and the same core cast that lit up several seasons of the show. The most clear difference is that while Horrible Histories moved from period to period and sketch to sketch, this persists with the same setting for almost 90 minutes. The material, then, needs to be better for feature length as the luxuries of being able to quickly and easily move on from a dud must disappear. Unfortunately, Bill never inspires the raucous laughs of the best HH sketches. Its reliance on drama constantly falls flat, and while there are decent instances of slapstick, wordplay, and clever gags, one feels that the film could certainly have implanted more. Baynton as Shakespeare is a woeful main character devoid of humour and set on a predictable journey that never ranks among the story's strengths. The subplot involving the assassination attempt on Elizabeth I (played by the recently departed Helen McCrory) is more interesting. All in all, the funny parts are too sparse and mostly unoriginal to galvanise much excitement, and the random moments of drama not effective in creating a well-rounded experience. I would recommend sticking to the show, or leaving this to the kids if the show also has not aged well in my estimation.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

05/28/21

Full Review

Audience Member

Funny. Sort of picks up where Monty Python left off. More polished humor.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/17/23

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Richard Bracewell

Director

Mathew Baynton

William 'Bill' Shakespeare

Simon Farnaby

Earl of Croydon

Martha Howe-Douglas

Anne Hathaway

Jim Howick

Christopher Marlowe

Laurence Rickard

Sir Francis Walsingham

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Mark Kermode

Observer (UK)

Nicely balancing its historically literate gags with broad knockabout slapstick, Bill is a crowd-pleasing treat that should tickle audiences young and old alike.

Rated: 4/5

Sep 20, 2015

Full Review

Kevin Maher

Times (UK)

Don't let the two-star rating throw you completely, for there are some nice gags in Bill.

Rated: 2/5

Sep 18, 2015

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Geoffrey Macnab

Independent (UK)

Richard Bracewell's Elizabethan-era comedy, starring the cast of Horrible Histories and Yonderland, is brisk, cheery fare that yields as many laughs as it does groans.

Rated: 3/5

Sep 18, 2015

Full Review

Charlotte Harrison

Charlotte Sometimes Goes to the Movies

Bill explores what may have happened during William Shakespeare's lost years upon arriving in London to hilarious effect.

May 10, 2021

Full Review

Tori Brazier

One Room With A View

This quintessentially British film has mixed together the best bits from inspirations like Blackadder and Monty Python with a cheeky, imaginative approach to history and added song-and-dance.

Rated: 4/5

May 4, 2019

Full Review

Matthew Bond

The Mail on Sunday (UK)

There are laughs but not quite enough.

Rated: 2/5

Oct 26, 2017

Full Review

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Synopsis

Hopeless lute player Bill Shakespeare leaves his home to follow his dream, explaining the "lost years" of Shakespeare.

Director: Richard Bracewell
Producer: Hugo Heppell, Phil Hunt, Christine Langan, Joe Oppenheimer, Compton Ross
Screenwriter: Laurence Rickard, Ben Willbond
Production Co: BBC Films
Genre: Adventure, Comedy
Original Language: English (United Kingdom)
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 18, 2016
Runtime: 1h 34m

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