Rating: 
Summary: An excellent adaptation
Review: "Shakespeare", a name universally reviled by high school students and perennial couch potatoes alike. It would seem that adapting the bard to the screen, in this day and age, is a well-nigh impossible task. Many kudos to Kenneth Branagh, then, for pulling off this feat admirably. Much Ado About Nothing is one of Shakespeare's best comedies, engaging in its depiction of classic scenes and always intereting for its perpetual wit and wordplay, which, no doubt, greatly influenced later English "drawing room" plays such as Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest. The heart of the play, of course, is the constant back-and-forth verbal war between Benedick and Beatrice. This pair is very well-performed by Branagh and his then-wife Emma Thompson, with the latter, in particular, doing an absolutely faultless job with her character. The pair's marriage was then crumbling and soon to splinter altogether; one wonders how much of the bite and bark necessarily depicted in the interactions between their two characters was easily provoked by this circumstance. Thompson delivers Beatrice's ever-witty lines with precision and charm, and Branagh handles the infamous "overhearing" scene with admirably subtle humor. The acting of the entire cast is quite good. Denzel Washington does a great job portraying Prince Don Pedro and the lesser-known Robert Sean Leonard exudes Count Claudio's juxtaposed personality very well. Michael Keaton, surprisingly, pulls off a quite funny Dogberry, master of the malapropism. The only disappointment in this area is the ill-casted Keanu Reeves: never a great actor in the first place, much less a portrayer of Shakespeare, Reeves gives an almost laughably bad Don John. His role is small, however, and his character fairly insignificant, and it does not detract from one's enjoyment of the film. Branagh did an excellent job directing this film and adapting the text to the screen. If you are one who is wary of Shakespeare's infamous Middle English, never fear: the plot will be clear to you, and you will be laughing to boot. A great job was done adapting the language and humor of Elizabethian England to the context of the modern-day film. Of course, much of the punning and subtle wordplay that takes place in the dialogue will be lost on modern audiences; this is not necessarily their fault, as many of the words used are archaic and they are not given the benefit of printed footnotes. The location and setting of the film is beautiful and serves the play well. Branagh, always a Shakespeare purist, has, thankfully, kept the movie very close to the text of the original play, adding only a few small touches of his own (one being the opening of the film, which actually serves to help the audience understand better what is going on, and another being the addition of an obligatory gay scene, apparently a pre-requisiste for any modern-day Shakespeare film), and deleting Benedick's off-color remark about Jews. A great film that will appeal to Shakespeare buffs and open-ended moviegoers alike.
Rating:
Summary: An exquisite film!
Review: I can add very little to the other reviews that laud this wonderful adaptation of Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing". I would merely like to take the opportunity to say that there are moments in this film which STILL bring a tear to my eye, simply because they are so incredibly beautifully done. For all the years I have studied and read Shakespeare's works, I have never seen a production that makes you forget you are hearing a "foreign" language, so clear is the meaning and emotion of the players in this film. Buy it, enjoy it, laugh and weep, over and over again!
Rating:
Summary: Branagh does it again!
Review: This is my all time favourite movie! From the moment the men come galloping over the hill to the rousing theme tune, through every quip, quibble and heart wrenching moment, time stops for me and I'm absorbed into this Tuscan world. A movie I can see over and over and never tire of it. Kenneth Branagh, yet again, does a magnificent job of modernising this classic story yet keeping it true to the Shakespearean roots.
Rating:
Summary: Perhaps the best of the Branagh-Shakespeare films.
Review: All right, I admit it. I think Kenneth Branagh is brilliant as an actor and a director. (I'm ignoring that whole "Wild, Wild West" thing. I'm not sure who's to blame for that.)He built a reputation for his ability to bring Shakespeare to the screen with unparalleled accesibility. Together with his then-wife Emma Thompson, a continuing company of actors and artisans, and a hand-full of big 'Hollywood' actors, "Much Ado About Nothing" may be the best of Branagh's Shakespeare films. Granted, when Shakespeare doesn't do tragedy, the plots sometimes border on sit-com. The old 'Three's Company' joke applies. 'Oh, is this the episode with the misunderstanding?' This is one of those. But if you go into it with a light attitude, it rewards. In this film, the performers deliver Shakespeare's lines as if it's modern language. Clear and covincing, amoungst beautiful scenery and costumes. It's great fun, and I was so pleased when they recently reissued it on DVD.
Rating: 
Summary: NOT a review of the movie:
Review: Standard disclaimer: when rating a play by Shakespeare, I rate it as compared to other Shakespearean plays, not as compared to the general run of literature; otherwise, the ratings in general would be too high to be very informative. This play, for instance, would certainly rate five stars in a general rating. As it is, this play can be read either of two ways, and depending on how one reads it, it's either one of Shakespeare's better comedies, or somewhere below mediocre. Naturally, I prefer to read it the way I like it better, and so rate it highly. If, however, one reads the dialogue at face value, this is a play bearing many resemblances to my absolutely LEAST favorite of Shakespeare's plays: "The Taming of the Shrew". It is a romantic comedy in which the main plot device is that two people who despise one another manage, in spite of that minor impediment, to fall in love. It has the saving grace that there is no hint of Benedick "taming" Beatrice; their idiocy is mutual and completely parallel, but I've always hated this particular plot, and continue to do so. The continuing popularity of it has contributed to an uncountable number of mismatches in real life, as people have been encouraged by their cultural mythology to believe that strong emotion equals attraction, even when it seems on the surface to be repulsion. On the other hand, in this play it is very easy to read Beatrice and Benedick's lines, right from the beginning, as more bantering than bickering (although there ARE a couple of places where it is a bit difficult to do so) and as the playful teasing of two people who actually ENJOY each other's company for the challenge of the verbal byplay. If one reads it that way, the play makes a great deal more sense, and is actually quite enjoyable. (Plus, it has the advantage of the romance being between two grownups, rather than lovestruck teenagers, as in "Romeo & Juliet".)
Rating:
Summary: Every Time is Better
Review: The first time I watched this movie years ago, I didn't understand the humor and missed out on a good chunk of the movie's point. Now that I am a little older, I enjoy the movie much more because of the humor. The characters are likable and fun, and the plot entertaining. I definitely recommend it.
Rating: 
Summary: I pull for Claudio, the Underdog
Review: This may shock a lot of Shakespeare fans, but I really hate Beatrice! She is just as bad as Claudio, just as quick to judge and quick to condemn. I only saw this movie because they showed it on my vaction flight to England. I watched it only because of Branaugh and Thompson, and while my overall opinion of the play and the characters did not change, I believe it was well done. It proves the versatility of Denzel Washington, and I got to see Kate Beckinsale in an early role. I was hoping Emma Thompson's performance might help me see Beatrice in a better light, but it didn't. No offense to Ms. Thompson, but I pull for the Underdog.
Rating:
Summary: Sigh no more, ladies...
Review: One of the problems with Shakespeare's comedies, an English professor once told me, is that they are not funny. Now, this is not to say that Shakespeare was a bad comedy writer, or that this professor had no sense of humour. In fact, quite the opposite--he had turned his sense of humour and love of humour into an academic career in pursuit of humour. What he meant by the comment was, humour is most often a culture-specific thing. It is of a time, place, people, and situation--there is very little by way of universal humour in any language construction. Perhaps a pie in the face (or some variant thereof) does have some degree of cross-cultural appeal, but even that has less universality than we would often suppose. Thus, when I suggested to him that we go see this film when it came out, he was not enthusiastic. He confessed to me afterward that he only did it because he had picked the last film, and intended to require the next two selections when this film turned out to be a bore. He also then confessed that he was wrong. Brannagh managed in his way to carry much of the humour of this play into the twentieth century in an accessible way -- true, the audience was often silent at word-plays that might have had the Elizabethan audiences roaring, but there was enough in the action, the acting, the nuance and building up of situations to convey the same amount of humour to today's audience that Shakespeare most likely intended for his groups in the balconies and the pit. The film stars Kenneth Brannagh (who also adapted the play for screen) and Emma Thompson as Benedict and Beatrice, the two central characters. They did their usual good job, with occasional flashes of excellence. Alas, I'll never see Michael Keaton as a Shakespearean actor, but he did a servicable job in the role of the constable (and I shall always remember that 'he is an ass') -- the use of his sidekick as the 'horse' who clomps around has to be a recollection of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, where their 'horses' are sidekicks clapping coconut shells together. I'll also not see Keanu Reeves as a Shakespearean, yet he was perhaps too well known (type-cast, perhaps) in other ways to pull off the brief-appearing villian in this film. Lavish sets and costumes accentuate the Italianate-yet-very-English feel of this play. This film succeeds in presenting an excellent but lesser-known Shakespeare work to the public in a way that the public can enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: An Exquisite Film!!!
Review: "Much Ado About Nothing" is a beautifully made, performed, and directed film by the incomparable Kenneth Branaugh. This film includes an all-star cast that give wonderful performances and draw you into the lives of the characters. The plot is somewhat complicated, so I'll give a general version. The film is basically about love, misunderstanding, scandal, revenge, virtue, and bravery. That's a lot for one film, but believe me, it's all in there! Kenneth Branaugh, Emma Thompson, Denzel Washington, Keanu Reeves, and Michael Keaton give excellent performances in this film that you wouldn't want to miss. Although the film is a period piece and the Shakespearean language is used, you will have no difficulty understanding it perfectly. The scenery and landscape in this film are exquisite as well. I never thought there could be such a beautiful, untouched place like that on earth. I would suggest watching the film just for the beautiful landscape, but it's the performances and the story that you should really pay attention to. Anyone who loves Shakespeare would absolutely love this film! Anyone who loves Kenneth Branaugh and what he has done for Shakespeare in the past 10 or 15 years will appreciate this film as well! There isn't one bad thing I can say about this film. Definitely watch it, you won't be disappointed!!!
Rating:
Summary: finest comedy
Review: this is shakespeare's finest comedy. it has the most interesting and well-balanced romance, and a secondary story that is substantial and moving. besides petruchio in 'taming of a shrew', benedick is the only male character in a comedy that is close to being the equal of his female love interest. beatrice is still a bit too much for benedick, but he hangs in there, and their tete-a-tetes make for some of the most interesting lines in all of shakespeare. beatrice is also one of shakespeare's most interesting and charming female characters. i know many readers prefer rosalind from 'as you like it', but i find beatrice's wit, laced as it is with some unexplained bitterness, far more intriguing, even alluring. besides, maan is just a flat-out better story than 'as you like it' or 'twelfth night'. the story never sags as it does in these other plays. it's my favorite shakespeare comedy.
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