King Lear

This excellent adaptation stars a world class wrecking crew of British actors, who avoid any sort of Elizabethan affectation and do an incredible job of making one of Shakespeare's toughest, plays into something accessible and delightful. It shouldn't come as a surprise that Shakespeare's writing can feel intimidating or alienating to a lot of people. Sometimes it feels like there's a way Shakespeare is "supposed to be performed," which reinforces the sort of stuffy, unrelatable, impenetrable air it already gives off. But occasionally, an adaptation of Shakespeare's work comes along that treats his seemingly-sacred texts as contemporary -- films like Ian McKellen's Richard III, Kenneth Branagh's Henry V, or Richard Burton's Hamlet. This King Lear can now be added to that list.

Director Richard Eyre sets the tale in modern London, and supports the actors with strong, easy to follow visual storytelling. There's nothing particularly flashy about it (like, say, Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet), but King Lear is rich and compelling -- an all-too-rare feat when it comes to one of the greatest writers of all time.