This one I netflixed by mistake. I thought I clicked on the new HBO As You Like It but not so much apparently.
I knew the story even though I've not read this play and I don't think I've seen a film adaptation. Yay for an English degree. Anyway, the basic story is that boy/girl twins, Viola and Sebastian who look remarkably similar (despite having to be fraternal) are shipwrecked and each presumes the other dead. Viola pretends to be a boy in order to promote a love relationship between Count Orsino and the woman he loves, Olivia, who refuses to accept his courtship. Viola, dressed as a he, instead falls in love with the Count (unbeknownst to him) and becomes the object of Olivia's affection. Sebastian, meanwhile, wanders around somewhere else. Olivia's household is upset when the housemaid, Maria, decides to get even with the uptight manservant, Malvolio, and enlists the help of Sir Toby (whom Maria loves and who is also a drunk), Sir Andrew (who is supposedly courting Olivia but is a damned fool), and Feste (the actual Fool). Hilarity and mistaken identity ensue until all is well and everyone gets married.
Quite a few of the performances are wonderful: Helena Bonham Carter as Olivia and Ben Kingsley as Feste not to mention as Nigel Hawthorne as Malvolio, Imogen Stubbs, as Viola, Toby Stephens as Duke Orsino, and Imelda Staunton as Maria. It's a little long and takes a little while to get into the Shakespearean dialogue but it's fun.
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