Gwyneth Paltrow has never really had an ample opportunity to showcase her talents until “Shakespeare in Love,” her latest work and the movie that has earned her a first Oscar nomination.

In the past, she has basically been reduced to token (and not too interesting) roles such as “the girlfriend,” “the wife” or, like 1997’s horrendous “Great Expectations,” the all-purpose “object of desire.”

However, in “Shakespeare,” Paltrow finally gets the chance to display her acting chops. She plays a noblewoman who passionately loves the theater and desperately wants to act on stage during a time when only men were allowed to play women’s roles.

During the course of the movie, Paltrow conveys almost every emotion under the rainbow, plays the characters of Romeo and Juliet and proves she’s more than a Hollywood “It Girl.”

The movie starts out with a young William Shakespeare (he goes by Will throughout the course of the film).

Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes, brother of Rafe) is supposed to be finishing his new play momentarily, but he’s been hit with a wicked case of writer’s block. He has the working title figured out — “Romeo a nd Ethel, the Pirate’s Daughter” — but lacks inspiration.

He finds his muse in Lady Viola (Paltrow), a spirited young woman who dons a pathetic-looking fake mustache to play Romeo in Shakespeare’s new production.

It doesn’t take long for Will to discover Viola’s secret — the disguise isn’t too hot, but for some reason, the other actors do not seem to catch on.

Will and Viola are immediately taken with one another, and despite the fact that both have other commitments — Viola’s engaged to an arrogant aristocrat, and Will has a wife and children in Stratford — they indulge in a passionate love affair which proves to be as forbidden and ultimately doomed as Romeo and Juliet’s.

The cast of supporting characters is also strong. Queen Elizabeth (Judi Dench of “Mrs. Brown” and another Oscar nominee) is an imposing figure as a royal who suspects Viola is not being faithful to her fiancee.

Geoffrey Rush (“Shine” and yet another nominee) adds some comic relief as the nervous owner of the theater who is expecting “Romeo and Ethel” to be a light-hearted comedy.

Ben Affleck is also hilarious; he portrays an actor who isn’t used to playing second banana but lets Will talk him into playing the flashy but short-lived role of Mercutio. (In one scene, Affleck is reading the script and yells out in confusion, “Mercutio dies?”)

But make no mistake, “Shakespeare” isn’t an ensemble piece. It’s the chemistry between Paltrow and Fiennes that makes every scene intriguing.

It’s an interesting bond that keeps these lovers together, risking life and death. There’s certainly an intellectual attachment, due to the mutual love of theater, but there’s also the obvious raw passion.

Paltrow is wonderful as Viola; she perfectly captures and balances the frail nature of the noblewomen versus the fierce passion of the actor who resides inside her soul. There are probably not too many actresses who could convincingly play both Romeo and Juliet at the drop of a hat.

However, Fiennes’ role is all passion without much substance. His part doesn’t really require much more of him. He is, after all, analogous to his leading man Romeo; he’s amorous but not the least bit reasonable.

It doesn’t take a Shakespearean scholar to realize the movie isn’t exactly historically accurate (there’s no proof that Viola ever existed).

But even if history isn’t treated so kindly, “Romeo and Juliet” certainly is. The final scene in which Will and Viola take the stage as the most famous lovers in history is worth the price of admission.

4 1/2 stars out of five

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Kate Kompas is a sophomore in journalism and mass communication from LeClaire.