Much ado about nothing (DVD)
Summary: Joss Whedon's sexy and contemporary spin on Shakespeare's classic comedy about the story of sparring lovers Beatrice and Benedick offers a sensual, tragic and occasionally absurd view of the intricate game that is love.
Video Librarian Reviews
When writer-director-producer Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly) makes a home movie, it's much ado about something, given the filmmaker's high profile. Filmed in black-and-white at Whedon's sprawling Santa Monica home, this is a frothy, low-budget adaptation of Shakespeare's ribald, robust comedy about love and arranged marriages. While the setting has been moved from 16th-century Sicily to 21st-century SoCal, Whedon draws on the original Elizabethan text (somewhat trimmed and tailored), albeit in modern dress and eschewing iambic pentameter. Filled with lies, deception, and betrayal, the screwball plot revolves around the visit of Prince Don Pedro (Reed Diamond) and his villainous brother, Don John (Sean Maher), to the home of Messina's Governor Leonato (Clark Gregg) for a garden party weekend that is full of charming romantic intrigue. Alexis Denisof and Amy Acker play ex-lovers—marriage-averse Benedick and tart-tongued Beatrice—while Fran Kranz and Jillian Morgese costar as troubled younger couple Count Claudio and virtuous Hero. Nathan Fillion and Tom Lenk bring comic relief as the dimwit neighborhood constable Dogberry and his sidekick Verges. While Britain's Royal Shakespeare Company needn't consider this competition, it's an enjoyably amusing homespun effort that should appeal to fans of the Bard. Recommended. (S. Granger)Copyright Video Librarian Reviews 2011.
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