the Duke. The Duke pardons his life before Shylock can beg for it, and Antonio holds his share "in use" (that is, reserving the principal amount while taking only the income) until Shylock's death, when the principal will be given to Lorenzo and Jessica. At Antonio's request, the Duke grants remission of the state's half of forfeiture, but in return, Shylock is forced to convert to Christianity and to bequeath the rest of his property to Lorenzo and Jessica. Bassanio does not recognize his disguised wife. He offers to give him/her a present. First she declines, but after he insists, Portia requests his ring and his gloves. He gives the gloves away without a second thought, but gives the ring only after much persuasion from Antonio, as earlier in the play he promised his wife never to lose it, sell it or give it away. At Belmont, Portia and Nerissa taunt their husbands before revealing they were really the lawyer and his clerk in disguise. After all the other characters make amends, all ends happily (except for Shylock) as Antonio learns that three of his ships have returned safely after all. Cast Al Pacino as Shylock Jeremy Irons as Antonio Joseph Fiennes as Bassanio Lynn Collins as Portia Zuleikha Robinson as Jessica Kris Marshall as Gratiano Charlie Cox as Lorenzo Heather Goldenhersh as Nerissa Mackenzie Crook as Launcelot Gobbo John Sessions as Salerio Gregor Fisher as Solanio Ron Cook as Old Gobbo Allan Corduner as Tubal Anton Rodgers as The Duke David Harewood as Prince of Morocco Jules Werner as Franciscan Friar Reception The Merchant of Venice received generally positive reviews; it has a "fresh" rating of 72% at Rotten Tomatoes based on 124 critic reviews, with the consensus, "A respectable if uneven take on the Bard's The Merchant of Venice." On Metacritic the film has an average score of 63/100. Most critics praised both the interpretation of the Shylock character by Michael Radford and Al Pacino and the dark, realistic look of the streets of Venice, for which production designer Bruno Rubeo was honoured by the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists. Reception to the film's treatment of antisemitism was mixed, with some critics praising Radford's contextualizing choices but feeling that they were nonetheless unable to fully prevent Shylock from being an antisemitic caricature, and others feeling that Shylock's villainy was sanitized in order to make him into an