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Much Ado About Nothing Customer Reviews (16 - 18 of 48 Reviews)

SUBERB MOVIE...
I do like William Shakespeare literature pieces and I do like this movie too. The actors are great, the atmosphere is fantastic. Especially, my favourite actress Emma Thompson shown a great performance. Shakespeare was a genuis writer that, he hide little secrets and things into even a single word. If you love Shakespeare, if you want to see this mystical and wonderful literature wonder reflected on the seventh art and if you want to see why Shakespeare called "genuis", I think you should watch this film.

Kenneth Branagh is a literary genius!
Do you like Shakespeare? Do you like comedies? Did you read Much Ado About Nothing and find it to be the work of a literary genius? Then you will love this movie!

Kenneth Branagh not only directed he starred in this delightful comedy. If you read the book then you must, you simply must give the movie a try. The interpretation is brilliant. They copied it word for word, yet when you see someone say those words they take on a whole new meaning and come to life. This in my opinion is one of the funniest Shakespearean comedies.

When watching this movie you will embark on a tale of misunderstandings and mishaps. You will see plots of evil and plots of love. The passion, the humor, the heated debates, the silliness of it all. It will delight you I am sure!

If you have not read the book this might help:
The Scenario: Two lovely cousins await the return of the gallant men off at war. One awaits the one she loves, while the other awaits the one she despises. The two in love (Hero and Claudio)are planning to marry. While they wait for the big day, they decide to trick the other two who despise each other into falling in love. BUT, of course, nothing goes as planned, and a terrible mishap occurs. Who is tricking who? AS always, in Shakesperare there are many twists. ANd the course of true love will not run smooth.

Such a wonderful cast, even though it is a comedy you have the comedy relief played by Michael Keaton (Dogberry) He is the funniest one out of all of them! The scenery is beautiful too, and such gorgeous music, listen to the soundtrack!

See for yourself how funny it really is!

Fantastic Feel-Great Rendition of Feel-Good Comedy
It's generally difficult to review a Shakespearean production. Not only must you start from the premise that the production is a scaled-down version of a four-hour play, which is by definition a masterpiece, you must also place the production in the context of centuries of other such adaptations ("Is Derek Jacobi's version of "Hamlet" better than Olivier's?"). All this baggage can make a review difficult - do you let the context of the production interfere with your review of its actual execution?

Other times it's easy, and Kenneth Branagh's film version of "Much Ado About Nothing" is a sure-fire five star production from start to finish. Branagh has set this tale of romance-and-nonsense in the definitive beautiful Tuscan villa and filled it with beautiful people (Emma Thompson is particularly radiant, and Denzel Washington virtually glows in his role as the Prince). Romantic, rousing music dominates the soundtrack, and nary a cloud mars the picturesque Tuscan views. A more perfect setting for a romantic comedy is hard to imagine.

It is also difficult to imagine a better cast for this film. Ms. Thompson and Branagh are perfectly matched as wits who profess to abhore love and yet are irresistably drawn together. Denzel Washington is surprisingly comfortable with the Shakespearean rhythms, as is the young Kate Beckinsale. Branagh, of course, has his usual suspects in the cast as well, including Brian Blessed and Richard Briers, ensuring top-notch performances in supporting roles. And Robert Sean Leanord fulfills the promise he showed in "Dead Poets Society" as a Shakespearean actor.

There are two polarizing performances in this movie. One is Michael Keaton's Dogberry, the most laughable policeman ever to walk a Tuscan beat. Keaton approaches Dogberry with the same zeal as he brought to Beetlejuice, and the combination of sincerity, madness, and idiocy he invests in Dogberry make all the malapropisms perfectly appropriate. Sure, he chews some scenery, but that's how the character was written.

Even more polarizing is Keanu Reeves as Don John, the villain of the piece. Many have criticized Reeves' performance as wooden (and worse), but I think it appropriate and well-measured. Don John, by his own admission, is not a man of many words, and it is believable that his anger derives at being overshadowed by so many luminaries. And since this is a comedy, Don John is not expected to rise to the heights of villainy obtained by Shakespeare's other creations, such as Iago. Don John is supposed to be a mild threat to the order of things, an impediment to allow love to ultimately triumph, not a monster. It's easy to pick on Mr. Reeves, but I'm more upset with him for the "Matrix" sequels than for his performance here.

A hugely entertaining clash of the sexes revolving around the trials and tribulations of young love conquering all, "Much Ado About Nothing" lives up to its title. Far from Shakespeare's most serious work, he still manages to do more with it than most mortal writers could dare to dream. A must for the film library!

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