Much Ado About Nothing

Pros: Emma Thompson. Kenneth Brannagh. Brian Blessed. Denzel Washington (suprisingly).
Cons: Michael Keaton. Keanu Reeves.

I have handed in my resignation to the staff at Camp Sisterwood and have officially washed my hands of their project, Bodice Ripper. Let them find someone else to try and turn their motley crew of jackbooted truck drivers into a set of ethereal ...

Pros: Beautiful scenery, lots of laughs, great dialog
Cons: Keanau Reeves’ so-called acting

I’m going to have a hard time explaining my two-year-old’s vocabulary to his grandparents and future teachers. He doesn’t yet say his name or “grandpa.” He does, though, say cuckold (courtesy of his dad memorizing a Shakespearean monologue),...

Pros: Excellent acting, set, costumes, and very lively characters
Cons: Robert Sean Leonard, for part of the play

When one thinks of Shakespeare, the first response is generally to think on all the timeless epics he penned (or so we believe so far as history reveals) and grand soliloquies to jester's skulls. Much Ado About Nothing takes us to the lighter side ...

Pros: Very strong plot that's easy to follow, great acting, especially by Kenneth Branagh and Thompson
Cons: Some of the Characters were bland, though well developed, and monotonous.

Kenneth Branagh managed to do it again! He took a classic Shakespeare play and turned it into a movie! And oh did he succeed! Not only is the movie true to the 1598 play, which Shakespeare called a "tragic comedy," but most of the character are even more...

Pros: Shakespearian Play with modern actors
Cons: Hard to understand the language at times

Much Ado About Nothing is a very interesting play. The play can be broken into seven different categories and makes it very easy to follow. Without breaking the play down, it would seem hard to follow because there is a marriage, a set up, a fake and...

Pros: beautiful setting for love
Cons: confusing changes of emotion

I love this movie, absolutely love it. I first watched it when I was 15, and still enjoy it at 22. Which tells you that Shakespeare was well portrayed and easy enough for a high school kid to comprehend and mature enough for an adult to watch.
...

Pros: Branagh, Thompson, beautiful cinematography
Cons: Keaton's Dogberry is way over the top

Much Ado About Nothing contains many formulaic characters -- the plain dealing villain Don John, the prim and faithful Hero, the clown Dogberry. It also contains two of the most attractive characters ever invented by William Shakespeare -- Beatrice and...

Pros: Quick wit, quick pace, perfect timing!
Cons: none worth mentioning!

While I respect Max's epinion, and mean no offense to him in my counter opinion, I knew I had to let my epinion be heard as well. What a joy this movie was to watch! I enjoyed every moment of this movie, from the picturesque hillside opening, to the...

Pros: Good acting
Cons: Words are hard to follow

Not a Shakespear fan? Too bad. Now you can't enjoy one of the best comedies written. No matter if you are flouent in Old English tongue, you can still appreciate the comedy via the stunning performances played by the actors.

The actors faces...

Pros: Great cast*, beautiful production, accessible Shakespeare
Cons: *Keanu Reeves

I should start out by saying that I graduated with honors in English from a top University, and took several Shakespeare classes. For those classes I had to watch two performances of each play studied that I hadn't seen. Needless to say, I've watched a...

Pros: True love, clever dialogue, funny moments
Cons: Some slow moments

No one does Shakespeare better in the 90s than Kenneth Branagh. He brings a vitality to the Bard's work that makes it accessible and fun for an audience that is rarely exposed to these classic and still powerful tales. MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING is about...

Pros: Great laughs from Keaton and occasionally from Branagh and Thompson
Cons: Somewhere along the way they forgot the joke and got way too serious

The title of this review is a little harsh. On the whole, Kenneth Branagh and company manage to make an occasionally fun and funny Ado. The highlight is definitely Michael Keaton as Dogberry. He is a rude, crude, filthy, revolting idiot who has most...

Pros: Funny, cheerful, and high spirited. Superb direction.
Cons: Not for people who dislike historical (period) pieces.

Why is William Shakespeare still famous after all this time? Watch this movie to see why, and be prepared for a terrific romp.

If you've been subjected to some of the recent remakes of some well known WS titles ("Romeo &...

Pros: It's Shakespeare!!!
Cons: The sexism made me mad!

Kenneth Branagh finds the fire and life in The Bard's works like no other director I've seen. I remember seeing this comedy from a seat in none other but the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego. While they spoke exactly the same dialogue, it was the only...

Pros: The directing, the acting
Cons: The actors are forced to speak too rapidly at times

Kenneth Branagh has a way with Shakespeare which others ought to emulate, but do not. In fact, he is often denigrated in serious Shakespeare circles (and even by serious lovers of English literature) primarily because he does not do things the...