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Love's Labour's LostRating:
Release Date: 14 January, 2003 Retail Price: $14.99 OUR Price: $13.99 You SAVE: $1.00! Cast: Complete Cast (11 total) |
Love's Labour's Lost Reviews
The least of Branagh's Shakespeare offerings.
I'm really of two (or three) minds about this film. LLL is a great play. I would have prefered a straight-forward movie keeping the text intact. With the failure of this movie at the box office and critically, it's unlikely I'll ever see a cinematic return to this play in my lifetime. (I am aware of the BBC version from 1985, but that is quite cut up, too.)
That said, I do enjoy this movie for what it is. The women are beautiful (especially Natascha McElhone). Timothy Spall is a great Armado, even if his part is hacked to pieces. Branagh's handling of the scene where the men are overheard professing their loves (4.3) is excellent. The deleted scene of the Nine Worthies is quite good, and would have been a much better choice for the film proper than that goddawful "There's No Business Like Show Business" number.
Which brings me to the songs and the dancing. I really enjoyed "I Won't Dance" and "They Can't Take That Away From Me," but most of the other performances just weren't as good. Not good enough to justify the cutting of Armado's part! The familiarity of the songs didn't really help it, either. New songs in the style of Gershwin would have been a nice, albeit more difficult, choice.
So, all in all, I'm glad I bought it. I'll watch it here and there, but I'm glad I have the (unabridged) Arkangel Audio tape to turn to when I need a shot of Love's Labour's Lost. Which I need more often than you might think.
Good Idea, Poor Execution
I really love Branagh's idea of turning "Love's Labor's Lost" into a musical, but it just wasn't that good. Every Branagh production has an "ouch" casting, and this time it was Alicia Silverstone, though not as bad as Keaneau Reeve's "Don John," she made a much better "Clueless" teenager, as she seemed uncomfortable with the language. Second, I think the biggest thing that detracted from this production was actually the way it was filmed. Everytime there was a big musical number, he pulled the camera back. I know this was harkening back to thirties productions, but the lack of solid coreography, and poorly skilled dancers made those on screen seem insignificant, and took away from the immediacy of the action. Additionally some of the song choices just didn't fit, though Lane's "Show Business" was brilliant. Overall, it is an average show, and would have to point people toward "Much Ado" first before they delve into this one.
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