Rating: 
Summary: Shakespeare meets Clueless...
Review: This is the story of 4 men (one of whom is a king) who have taken an oath to study for 3 years without much sleep, even less food, and no interaction with women. What they didn't know was that a princess was already on her way with her friends (3 beautiful women). You can imagine the antics... no need to go into detail. First let me say: I like this movie. That said.... it's like 1920's Shakespeare meets Clueless, and not just because of Alicia Silverstone. If you're looking for a musical with good singing, don't watch this. BUT... if you're looking for a hilarious mock-musical with the real Shakespearian verse, this is for you! The dancing is beautifully done; even Matthew Lillard does a wonderful job. I give it 3 stars out of 5.
Rating: 
Summary: It's fancy free and free for anything fancy
Review: Folks, please, PLEASE don't compare Love's Labour's Lost to Branagh's Hamlet or Henry V. It's not a tragedy, it's not the Battle of Agincourt. It's a Shakespearian comedy. Shakespeare's comedies were light, flitty, and nothing like his tragedies.
That being said, the transfer of one of his lesser-known comedies (when you compare it to something like Taming of the Shrew or Twelfth Night) is most fitting considering Love's Labour's Lost has all the elements of a screwball musical comedy of the late 30s, early 40s. Nathan Lane's comedic candor is a welcome touch, and is sure to make you laugh. Branagh, as previously demonstrated in Much Ado About Nothing, plays comic roles as well as he does tragic. I was pleasantly surprised by the talents of Matthew Lillard, and let me say those boys CAN dance (check out the "I've Got a Crush On You" scene).
With numbers like the toe-tapping "There's No Business Like Show Business," hot, steamy "Let's Face the Music and Dance," and the over-the-top "I Get a Kick Out of You," Branagh's fusion between the Golden Age of musical theatre and the Bard is near-perfect, something I haven't seen since Kiss Me, Kate.
My one complaint, the bane of the film if you will, is Alicia Silverstone. She plays the Princess of France with the same personality she gave to her character in Clueless, and there is only so much of that voice of hers that I can take. True, visually, she fits into the film, but the moment she opens that mouth, watch out!
However, it is, all-in-all, an excellent film that evokes the romance of the pre-WWII era and the delightful wit of the Bard.
Rating: 
Summary: Absolutely...
Review: GREAT! Mr. Branagh is the best interpreter of the Great Bard, and he's done it again! Love's Labour's Lost gives us everything a modern audience wants- love, passion, and real life, Shakespearean style! Marvelously done at that! I recommend this musical to ANYONE who loves theater, musicals, Shakespeare, or life!
Rating: 
Summary: Great Poetry Lost
Review: If you have never read the play and think that singing and dancing talent are irrelevant in a musical then this may not be the worst film ever. Otherwise do a double bill of Henry V and Tophat.
Rating:
Summary: Let's Face the Music and Dance!
Review: It may surprise you to learn this, but I don't think that Kenneth Branagh makes perfect films. He does many things brilliantly, a few things not very well, and doesn't seem to change either the good stuff or the bad from one film to the next. I therefore tend to describe his work as 'highly idiosyncratic.' I find Branagh's ability to emulate - not simply mimic - the conventions of distinct genres one of the most potent weapons in his filmmaking arsenal. While I think 'Dead Again' illustrates this skill most effectively - I once referred to it as 'the most thrilling and effective tribute to Hitchcock this side of, well, Hitchcock' - with 'Love's Labour's Lost,' Branagh fashions a very affectionate paean to the musicals of the '40s and '50s. This genre particularly suits his naturally sunny, optimistic and romantic (sometimes to a fault) style. In his hands, one of Shakespeare's lesser comedies - its text radically shorn - becomes a fluffy, color-coordinated musical romantic comedy, thin on plot, but long on production value and bursting with exuberance. Make no mistake about it - this musical, like its ancestors, is just often plain giddy, a bit campy and full of ridiculous coincidences and mistaken identities. Please suspend your disbelief (and check expectations of profundity) at the door. While Branagh appropriates the right music (classics by Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, the Gershwins) for the film, his cast's execution of the song-and-dance numbers, by his own admission, falls short of the calibre of the performers (Astaire and Rogers in particular, but also Esther Williams [!], Gene Kelly and the like) to whom they pay tribute. It gives a cheerful, ragtag effect, more like watching a performance given by a good regional theatre troupe than by the Royal Shakespeare Company. Though Nathan Lane (as the clownish Costard) is the only castmember with prior musical theatre experience, among the eight principal characters, one finds a mixed bag of talent ranging from passable to truly outstanding. Among the ladies, Alicia Silverstone [the Princess] has a sweet but thin voice, and often strains for notes. Carmen Ejogo [Maria] and Emily Mortimer [Katherine] fare better, but Natascha McElhone [Rosaline], with her regal bearing, Emma Thompson-ish features (I wonder whether Branagh sees that) and richer, mellow voice, outshines the other three. Among the men, Matthew Lillard [Longaville]'s skills compare to those of Silverstone; Branagh[Berowne]'s and Alessandro Nivola[the King]'s work improves upon that. If you watch nothing else from this film, you simply must see Adrian Lester[Dumaine]'s graceful athleticism on display through his portion of 'I've Got a Crush on You.' I would guess that his homage to Gene Kelly - a hat, cartwheels, tipping chairs and all - formed the basis for his recognition as a BAFTA best actor nominee the year of this film's release. If I recall correctly, he landed a role in a stage musical not long after he finished work on 'LLL.' That should give you some idea.
Rating:
Summary: FABULOUS!
Review: I absolutely LOVED this movie! I am a big Shakespeare and Kenneth Branagh fan. I enjoy movies like Much Ado About Nothing and Twelfth Night, but this one was absolutely great! I love all the songs, and the story is a great one too! For some reason a lot of people don't like this movie, but my best friend and I (both 14 year old Shakespeare fans) loved this one~
Rating:
Summary: Very Good if your Tongue is Planted Firmly in Cheek
Review: As a fan of Kenneth Branagh's work and a big fan of old-time movie musicals, I wonder why it took me so long to see Love's Labour Lost. Maybe because the reviews I read were pretty scathing. But I was able to rent this video from my library and have to say I had a great time watching it. Branagh and company have done an admirable job updated the story to pre-World War II; the musical numbers fit perfectly into that scenario. It is obvious that some of the cast members are not trained in either dance or song, but that is part of the movie's charm. Because the numbers are not polished like a Busby Berkley kaleidoscope, I think the critics missed the point. I never would have bothered to read Shakespeare's Love Labour Lost if I had not had such a good time watching the movie. I guess critics have a problem if a movie is an "adaptation" of a famous work. Because every single word of Shakespeare's play was not used, they were offended. But it is great fun to normal folk like myself. One word of caution, though. As with most movie musicals made after 1954, if you do not see the widescreen version, you are missing out. The VHS version I first watched had 2 1/2 dancers on the screen most of the time, instead of the 4 that I knew were there.
Rating:
Summary: Lighten Up!
Review: I read many reviews of Love's Labour's Lost before I saw it. That was either a good idea or a bad one, I haven't decided which, but I will say this: after all those opinions, I did not expect to chuckle and laugh out loud over the movie. But I did chuckle and I did laugh! I thought it was hilarious. The switch in language from Elizabethan vigor (speech) to 1930s slang (music) struck me funny every time, the joke never got old, not for me. I adored the supporting cast, all their antics amused me and a couple times I laughed so hard I disturbed the cat. (Eventually she got up and went into another room.) I thought the dancing was a lark and the singing, too. A giggle, you know? Meant for light-hearted enjoyment. I've never liked slapstick humor in my life, not once not ever, but apparently when it's done Elizabethan I like it fine. Bring on the pratfalls! Drop the servant out of the plane! Fly the king around the room! Whee! Perhaps I wouldn't have enjoyed it so much if my expectations hadn't been lowered so much by the reviews I read. But actually, I don't think that's true. I think in fact it's one of the funniest movies I've ever seen -- certainly up there among the top three or four -- and all those folks who gave it bad-to-worse reviews just didn't get the joke.
Rating:
Summary: Give me Hamlet or Henry
Review: KB has done some remarkable work and some trash. This one is sadly the latter. The songs do not work. The sentiments are promising but the staging is hopeless. The Bard is truly adaptable to other times and places buy not this fey one.
Rating:
Summary: A work of genius
Review: Of all Shakespeare's work, Love's Labours Lost must be one of the most difficult to make a movie of. It has little or no action and the entire story depends solely on the dialogue to get along.
However, Kenneth Branagh has managed to make it work. By transplanting the story to the late 1930's and capturing the general mood of the play in songs from musicals of that era, he has managed to keep Shakespear's play intact, while adding the visual elements necessary in movie.
The choreography is absolutely stunning, even more so when one realises that none of the performers is a professional dancer. The songs and the text of the original work flow seemlessly into one another.
As always one of Branagh's greatest achievements is the selection of the cast, assembling an unlikely combination of actors and actresses, most whom would at first seem unsuitable to Shakespeare and to get a more then creditable preformance from this group.
If the dead can come back to earth, I think that William Shakespeare (by nature a showman) is applauding with the audience right now.
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