Much Ado About Nothing (2012)

If you love Elizabethan comedy and you also admire Joss Whedon, then his Much Ado About Nothing will send you over the moon. The Bard's language, in the hands of a smart director with access to accomplished actors and other film artists, is as lively, lovely and accessible as any contemporary rom-com might be.....Benedict and Beatrice have inspired many screenwriters, but few seem to have as much fun as Whedon does.

The black and white budget makes other over-budgeted mainstream fare seem bloated. From the party scenes to the love scenes to the detective scenes, everything is perfectly pitched with cameras capturing the complexities of Shakespeare's comedy with clever but unobtrusive effort. The staging is simple but imaginative, and the costumes are hip without being too trendy.

I'm delighted to see that today, June 23rd, is Joss Whedon's birthday. How lovely that he shared this pretty package with film lovers like me.

Fmovies: I really didn't like this version. Much Ado must be my favorite of Shakespeare's texts, and I saw a tremendous potential in a modern transposition. Sadly, it is poorly treated. Benedict and Beatrice sound like a pair of bickering, sourpuss ex spouses, rather than the witty, smart, fun pair they should be (how sorely I missed Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson!); "Sicily" is more like a California backwater, with CA plates on cars (barely out of focus) and large American style kitchen; one cannot just pretend that pouring rivers of red wine in all glasses starting at breakfast and filming in black and white will achieve Italian realism.

Adherence to the original text is great, and I really appreciate it, but it require an acting tour de force the cast did not stand up to. It feels artificial, and all the fun is gone.

One great scene, not sufficient to redeem the whole movie: the extravagant masked party, that comes together apparently effortlessly, and looks magnificent.

Sad. I didn't even stay until the end.

OK, using "Shadow" in the title is a poor attempt at a pun over the use of black/white film... Which never works because there's never enough contrast. There is no Black, there is no White... It's tedious Grey, start to finish. Comparing this to the 1990's version is completely unfair, as in spite of 20 years of technological upgrades, the "original" sounds, looks and just feels better. This is using a TV-actor cast, and it unfortunately shows, as it's just wooden. The charm, banter and wit of the original (movie or story) is completely lost because nobody looks like they are actually enjoying themselves - making for a very strange "comedy".

I had to watch the Thompson/Branagh version as soon as I finished with this, just to get the poor taste out of my head - and I'm glad I did.

Much Ado About Nothing fmovies. Much Ado About Nothing by Joss Whedon is the latest adaptation of the Shakespeare's comedy.

The good. Excellent ideas. Very funny settings and actions. Nice choice of actors. With visual, it's always possible to add non spoken actions to original dialogs and Whedon made some clever extensions. Great photography.

The actors. My favorite performance were by Nathan Fillion, Sean Maher, and Tom Lenk, although I came to appreciate those of Amy Acker and Alexis Denisof a lot.

The bad. The concept of war as spoken in the piece doesn't translate well in modern time.

The ugly. Nothing.

The result. Solid entertainment for those who like modern transposition of Shakespeare's work, A must for any Whedon fan.

Transposed to an American setting, Joss Whedon's MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING proves a highly entertaining romance. The two central characters Beatrice (Amy Acker) and Benedick (Alexis Denisof) begin the film as deadly enemies, but it's clear they're attracted to one another. They are brought together due to a combination of clear-headed thinking and clever machinations by their friends. Denisof is very good with his body; in one sequence he stretches and preens himself in front of Beatrice, much to her disgust. Acker has an equally funny scene where she tries to conceal herself beneath a kitchen unit. The supporting cast are equally good: I particularly liked Clark Gregg's Leonato, concealing a passionate nature beneath a cloak of respectability, and Jillian Morgese's Hero, a well-brought up girl wrongfully accused of adultery. Shot in atmospheric black-and-white in a country house over a period of sixteen days, the film makes wonderful use of light and shade. The verse-speaking is clear and lucid, and the story abundantly clear. I really admired this film; definitely worth a second look.

It really shows when a director is heavily interested in his project. It was clear to anyone that this was a very well thought-out and beautifully crafted rendition of Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing".

The script speaks for itself. Whedon kept his version honest to the script and didn't overplay anything, as you see in many other renditions. He also fitted his direction very well with the play, and it wasn't a forced modern adaptation.

All the humor was genuine, and wasn't cheap at all. The humor from the script itself and the actions that the actors took really played well together, making it a very enjoyable movie.

The pace made sense, and Joss really made this his own production. You could tell he knew how he wanted to see the scenes and how he played them out. The levels between the actors (which, for those who don't know, is the use of height with the actors to make a scene more interesting) was really well played in some of the scenes. The directing was flawless, and really told the story beautifully. It wasn't too fast or too slow, it was just right. The acting from everyone was really well done, and kept you absorbed in the film. The film also followed the theme that Joss chose perfectly, and the use of locations was incredible.

If I haven't convinced you to see this film yet, I'm obviously not conveying what I want to say. This movie was a masterpiece, and very easy to enjoy. I would give it a ten out of ten, but I'll save that for when I watch the movie again (which should be very soon). Overall very easy to enjoy, light-hearted, very easy to understand, beautiful acting and directing, and probably the best modern adaptation of Shakespeare I've seen to date.

Joss, please make another.