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Much Ado About Nothing
Jun. 19th, 2013 10:11 pmJoss Whedon's William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing is really rather wonderful. It's one of those films where you find yourself with a big, stupid grin on your face all the way through.
Shot in black and white for no money around Joss's home and starring his regular acting buddies, this is about as far from Avengers Assemble as you can get. However, it's still quintessentially Joss Whedon. Given his love of ensemble casts and great dialogue, he and Shakespeare seem like an ideal match.
I've always liked Much Ado. Described as "a dark, sexy and occasionally absurd view of the intricate game that is love", it's one of Shakespeare's better romantic comedies. Some of the insults that fly are terrific (My personal favourite being the pun-tastic "As civil as an orange, and something of that jealous complexion!"). It's nice to see a cast who clearly understand every word they are saying, and manage to make 400-year-old verse sound completely natural, emotionally-charged and witty. It helps that they've been doing this for years with Joss in their spare time, and that they're all very good at physical comedy as well.
Hats off toFredAmy Acker as Beatrice, who mostly steals the show with an astonishing performance that will be unfairly overlooked when it comes to next year's Oscars. Agent CoulsonClark Gregg as Leonarto is also very good, as is WesleyAlexis Denisof as Benedick, although it took me a little while to get used to him speaking in his (natural) American accent. SimonSean Maher pantomimes it up in a suit fifty shades darker than everyone else's as the villainous Don John. MalNathan Fillion and AndrewTom Lenk do what they do best as the comic relief duo of bungling cops.
There's no getting away from the fact that some of the attitudes are stuck in the 16th Century, and occasionally this jars. Overall though, the snappy modern suits and Mediterranean-style setting of Joss's (lovely) house work well and create the perfect atmosphere.
This wasn't on at Cineworld and doesn't seem to have a nationwide release. Thank heaven for the Showroom! As for all the other cinemas, they don't know what they're missing. I only hope it gets a DVD release because I could watch this film again and again and again.
Shot in black and white for no money around Joss's home and starring his regular acting buddies, this is about as far from Avengers Assemble as you can get. However, it's still quintessentially Joss Whedon. Given his love of ensemble casts and great dialogue, he and Shakespeare seem like an ideal match.
I've always liked Much Ado. Described as "a dark, sexy and occasionally absurd view of the intricate game that is love", it's one of Shakespeare's better romantic comedies. Some of the insults that fly are terrific (My personal favourite being the pun-tastic "As civil as an orange, and something of that jealous complexion!"). It's nice to see a cast who clearly understand every word they are saying, and manage to make 400-year-old verse sound completely natural, emotionally-charged and witty. It helps that they've been doing this for years with Joss in their spare time, and that they're all very good at physical comedy as well.
Hats off to
There's no getting away from the fact that some of the attitudes are stuck in the 16th Century, and occasionally this jars. Overall though, the snappy modern suits and Mediterranean-style setting of Joss's (lovely) house work well and create the perfect atmosphere.
This wasn't on at Cineworld and doesn't seem to have a nationwide release. Thank heaven for the Showroom! As for all the other cinemas, they don't know what they're missing. I only hope it gets a DVD release because I could watch this film again and again and again.
