The Taming of the Shrew

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02/01/2021 To be fair to the BBC, The Taming of the Shrew is difficult to pull off, and not Shakespeare's finest. This came off as slightly disturbing, with a Petruchio that seemed more abusive than funny. (Not to mention the fact that there were only 2-3 sets!) See more 10/16/2012 This TV special stars John Cleese (Monty Python movies/show, Shrek 2, Harry Potter movies) who plays the witty Petruchio, Simon Chandler (The King's Speech, Vera Drake, Milk) as the lovestruck Lucentio, and Sarah Badel (The Winter's Tale, Fingersmith) as the shrewish Kate. It was very similar to book/play. It was an odd cast to throw together, but it worked. I was a little worried that John Cleese was the star in this adaptation, because he's not known for these type of movies/shows. And I haven't seen many actors successfully try their hand at something different. They usually fall flat on their face and it's really embarrassing and I hurt for them. HOWEVER, John Cleese did a wonderful job in this! Lucky for him this play was a comedy, so it wasn't a big change. I liked this movie or whatever it was. It wasn't as funny as the book, but I did enjoy it. They kept really close to the play and I really respected that, because with some stories you have to. I was a little upset because they did cut out some really funny bits, but what can you expect? I know that they have to cut things out, but sometimes I felt like they cut out the wrong scene. There were some boring parts that didn't need to be in there. That's my personal opinion though. All-in-all, the actors did a fine job, especially John Cleese. I was worried about him falling flat on his face, but he held his own and he stole the show. He really did. I'm glad Jonathon Miller took that risk, because I don't think I would have like this movie (or TV thingy) if it hadn't been John Cleese ^.^. I'm not saying I didn't like the others in this, but John Cleese made the movie/TV special. Out of five stars, I'll give this one 4 stars. *Favorite Character(s): Kate and Petruchio *Not-so Favorite Character(s): Hortensio See more 01/20/2011 while I prefer the style of the Liz Taylor version, I enjoyed this and found it seemed to me more traditional See more 03/07/2010 A great play that is amazing with John Cleese's fantastic performance. See more 03/03/2010 Frank Thornton of "Are You Being Served" and John Cleese of Monty Python join a slightly more conventional cast with this effort. Fair to middling. See more 08/25/2009 See my review for 10 Things I Hate About You. See more Read all reviews

The Taming of the Shrew

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