KnotMissPriceless Why so much hype?

Ensofter Overrated and overhyped

Moustroll Good movie but grossly overrated

Keeley Coleman The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

rcmead-25983 Ben Willbond's Philip of Spain is a genius comic creation. It's worth watching the film for him alone but on top of that it's a great film with plenty of classic moments and obscure references stuffed into it. A Python-esque comedy in the silliest English tradition.

jaster-7 This movie was such a delightfully funny surprise. Reminiscent of Monty Python fare and wit, it totally cracked me up. Well executed, well paced, and well cast, and served up with ridiculous irreverent perfection. I got the feeling they were loving what they were doing - and I loved it too. Plus the added surprise of seeing who played who at the end. The movie takes elements of the accepted history of "Bill" (a la Shakespeare In Love) and tells very a funny story about it.So refreshing to watch, compared to so many plot-less comedies that rely on gross out jokes, juvenile themes, and offensive language to be 'funny'. The banter is quick, the jokes and gags fresh and unexpected, the lines classic, and it contains all the twists and turns of, well, a Shakespearean comedy.Loved it.Best liked: Characters using Shakespearean phrases.

writers_reign The last thing that anyone connected with this project could claim is originality and nor, I would imagine, would anyone do so. The concept of spoof histories can be traced at least as far back as 1066 And All That and, for all I know, even further. We've also had The Complete Plays of Shakespeare in 87 Minutes, and latterly Horrible Histories out of which the current feature, Bill, has evolved and your reaction to it will very much depend on your appreciation and/or tolerance of the genre. I tend to agree with the opinions I've read that this is a one-joke idea attempting to flesh out a Bumper Fun Book and falling short by about ten chapters. The law of averages weighs in with roughly a pennyweight of half-decent gags but then, dear viewer, you're on your own.

littlewritingmachine Anyone who has studied history, and that's just about everyone, will find something to enjoy in Bill, a big screen leap for the popular TV team that expands the scope of the show without letting go of the good humour and wit beloved by millions.Taking a cue from Shakespeare in Love, but playing the idea of the Bard's formative years in a very different way, Bill features Mathew Bayton as the young playwright, seeking his fortune in London and falling under the wing of Christopher Marlowe (Jim Howick). The historical aspect is brought to the fore as King Phillip II (Ben Willbond) concocts a scheme to eliminate Queen Elizabeth I (Helen McCrory) by gunpowder, with Bill's first play giving him a pretext to carry out his plan. Bill's excitement about seeing his work brought to the stage is tempered by a dawning realisation that he's only a pawn in a bigger political game.Bill might well work for worldwide audiences as a cheerful parody of Shakespeare in Love, but has its own sense of comic invention. It's refreshing to see a British film with such spirited performances, with Willbond sporting several moustaches at once and his co-writer Laurence Rickard superbly deadpan as the violently anti-Catholic Walsingham. Bill never dumbs down history, but reflects it through amusingly modern updates; the castle security go to Code Woad when the believe there's a high risk of attack, and Phillip's men are subject to a search by a decidedly modern customs officer. Damien Lewis has a brief but amusing cameo, and all the performers are on point; you can tell that they've got confidence in the material, and they wring every possible laugh from it. Sneaking into cinemas with barely a breath of publicity, Bill should find a wide and appreciative audience once it finds a home on the small screen; carefully plotted and with genuine wit behind the gags, it's the best British comedy of the year. That may not be saying much, given that big-screen comedy is seemingly a lost art, but Bill is just the thing to put a rare smile on the faces of adults and children alike.