Restoration period piece. Charles II of England (John Malkovich in a false nose) beseeches the Second Earl of Rochester (a rock-starry Johnny Depp) to quit wasting his energies on debauchery and to put them into becoming the king's Shakespeare: "Give me a major work of literature." What the sovereign is given instead is off-off-off-Broadway smut. Only when the rotter starts rotting literally (syphilitically) does he start thinking of redemption. Salaciousness aside, a dull costume party in a sickly green monochrome. With Samantha Morton, Tom Hollander, Rupert Friend, Paul Ritter, and Rosamund Pike; adapted from his own stage play by Stephen Jeffreys; directed by Laurence Dunmore. (2005) — Duncan Shepherd
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