False and mistaken identities abound in the plays of Shakespeare.

In Twelfth Night, shipwreck survivor Viola adopts the manly guise of Cesario to insinuate herself into the court of Orsino.

In The Merchant Of Venice, wily Portia dons the robes of lawyer Balthazar to prevent Shylock extracting a pound of flesh from her father Antonio.

Yet the greatest question of identity hangs over the author.

For centuries, scholars have debated whether the uneducated man we all know as William Shakespeare gave birth to some of the greatest works in the English canon.

Director Roland Emmerich stokes the controversy with this handsome but structurally flawed drama penned by John Orloff.

Bookended by scenes featuring Sir Derek Jacobi, Anonymous unfolds during the later years of Queen Elizabeth I (Vanessa Redgrave), who is besieged by plots to overthrow her.

Edward de Vere (Rhys Ifans), the Earl of Oxford, is credited as the true author of the plays but he cannot put his name to these impassioned works when many, including his puritanical father-in-law William Cecil (David Thewlis), are convinced that the theatre is the crucible of the Devil.

So a wastrel, young actor called William Shakespeare (Rafe Spall) takes public credit while de Vere recollects happier times when he (played in flashback by Jamie Campbell Bower) became romantically entangled with the young Queen (Redgrave’s real-life daughter, Joely Richardson).

Meanwhile, Edward’s friend Ben Jonson (Sebastian Armesto) refuses to disclose the truth to scheming Robert Cecil (Edward Hogg), who intends to install King James on the throne and deny the Earl of Essex (Sebastian Reid), who foolishly mocks the power of the quill: ‘Since when did words win a kingdom?’ Anonymous is an interesting departure for director Emmerich, who is best known for digital effects-heavy blockbusters including Godzilla and The Day After Tomorrow.

His film wears the doublet and hose of the era in style but there’s no method in the madness of Orloff’s screenplay with a perplexing, fractured chronology that precludes dramatic momentum.

Ifans is solid as the visionary who professes, ‘All art is political otherwise it would just be decoration’ but Spall’s comical turn threatens to derail to picture and the romantic subplot between Edward and Elizabeth I is a damp squib.

At 130 minutes, Emmerich’s history lesson is hefty but for all its impressive production design, this conspiracy theory is much ado about nothing.

• Release Date: Friday 28 October 2011
• Certificate: 12A
• Runtime: 130mins