To see or not to see; that is the question for movie-goers and Shakespeare fans everywhere.

The newly released movie “Anonymous” explores the theory that William Shakespeare didn’t write the plays and poems attributed to him. Instead, the film claims that the real author is actually the Earl of Oxford (Rhys Ifans). He’s banned from authoring plays because they were considered sinful, so he asks unknown writer Ben Johnson (Sebastian Armesto) to claim authorship of his work. When Johnson confesses to a man named William Shakespeare (Rafe Spall) the truth, Shakespeare, an actor with no more than a secondary-school education, seizes the opportunity and takes credit for all of the plays.

The premise of the film is based on a real theory questioning the legitimacy of Shakespeare’s authorship. Believers of the theory claim that he couldn’t possibly have known enough about kingship, nobility and classical literature to write his famous poems and plays.

All 130 minutes of the film were incredibly boring and dull. The acting was nothing special and the claims were very far-fetched and hard to believe.

Director Roland Emmerich does an excellent job producing a drama with a cleverly crafted conspiracy theory, but the claims are backed by little historical evidence, and the film, written by John Orloff, lacks believability. The primary problem with the movie is that it’s difficult to stay engaged in the drama amidst an uninteresting and unconvincing plot.