It remains an exercise of the head, not the heart.

Merchant of Venice is such a blatantly anti-Semitic work that a modernization seems imprudent.

Shakespeare needs no special effects or short-sighted novelties. Michael Radford's straightforward telling of The Merchant of Venice does the great play justice.

Radford preserves the mechanics of the plot, but also offers us heroes who are as flawed as the nominal villain, if not more so

Radford’s adaptation admirably captures the inherent and troubling contradictions of the play, and turns them into great, thought-provoking drama.

The Merchant of Venice is a not a perfect play, but it is a good one. And the same can be said for Radford's version of it.

A solid production that tries to overcome as best as it can its flaws, which include its anti-Semitic caricature of the Shylock.

What an odd accident of fate --and sad collision of dietary demands-- that the stage's most famous Jew would wind up being played so wonderfully by film's most delicious ham.

Merchant isn't perfect; it's torn in too many directions. But Radford's film is about as good as one could hope for.