Much Ado About Nothing
{4.5/5} “I had rather hear my dog bark at a crow than a man swear he loves me.”
A group has gathered at Leonato’s estate — Leonato is Hero’s father and Beatrice’s uncle. Beatrice and Benedick engage in a battle of wits whenever they meet — each of them say they’ll never get married. Hero and Claudio like each other but are both shy. Don John hears of Claudio’s desire and, just because he’s a not-so-nice guy, decides to foil his plans. Meanwhile, some of Beatrice and Benedick’s friends decide that they should really be together.
Much Ado About Nothing was released in 2012. It’s one of Shakespeare’s comedies — it’s his words brought into a modern setting. It’s in black and white.
I’ve previously seen the 1993 version directed by Kenneth Branagh, which I haven’t seen in a long time but I liked it.
The language is somewhat difficult — it was written over 400 years ago — but it’s worth it to pay attention. Even if you don’t understand every word, you’ll get the gist of it.
Like the title says, it’s not really about anything — but it’s funny and it’s authentic.
Amy Acker and Alexis Denisof are brilliant — even in monologues they make the Shakespearean language seem natural.
There’s some slapstick, but it’s funny because it’s in the context of characters we’re already engaged with.
It was filmed at Joss Whedon’s home.
The playful music is by Whedon, who wrote the Firefly theme as well as the songs for Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog and the musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
All of these actors have worked with Whedon before. Amy Acker (The Cabin in the Woods and the TV shows Angel and Dollhouse) plays Beatrice and Alexis Denisof (the TV show Angel) plays Benedick. Nathan Fillion (Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, Serenity and the TV show Firefly) plays Dogberry and Clark Gregg (The Avengers) plays Leonato. Fran Kranz (The Cabin in the Woods and the TV show Dollhouse) plays Claudio and Sean Maher (Serenity and the TV show Firefly) plays Don John. Tom Lenk (The Cabin in the Woods and the TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer) plays Verges and Reed Diamond (the TV show Dollhouse) plays Don Pedro. Jillian Morgese (other than an uncredited role in The Avengers, her first movie) plays Hero.
Riki Lindhome (guest star on the TV show Pushing Daisies) plays Conrade and Spencer Treat Clark (the kid in Unbreakable) plays Borachio.
The movie was directed by Joss Whedon (writer on The Cabin in the Woods).