Rating: 
Summary: Painful..What was Branagh thinking?
Review: Kenneth Branagh's "Love's Lobour's Lost" has to be one of the worst Shakespeare films I've seen. It is hard to say that about something the master of Shakespeare on the screen did. Everything about this production is cheap and dull. In the movie theater I didn't know weather to: A. fall asleep, B.Walk out or C. Write Branagh and challenge him to a duel.The first fault of this film is the acting. Once again actors doing a Shakespeare comedy feel like they have to act over-the-top stupid especially the fool which in this production wins the prize. Even Branagh acts like a fool. Even Nathan Lane who I thought would win the show is pretty dull here! As an Actor, I don't even critique films that strong as I could for acting but even someone who isn't an actor could see the ugh there's no word to describe how bad the acting was. I am certain no one knew what they were saying either which is the biggest flaw of acting Shakespeare. I would've rather see Community Theater do "The Complete Works Of Shakespeare Abridged" which is my most hated play of all time keep in mind. The musical and dancing part of the movie is even worst than the acting. The music is off-key and unaspiring. The dance movements could've been done by anyone. It was all regular musical formula watered down to make it look like a read through. Kenneth Branagh will have to do something way way better to excuse himself from this piece. It's hard to believe the same man who did amazing versions of "Henry 5" and "Hamlet" stooped to the depths of this mess of a film. In my mind, this will remain the "Battlefield Earth" of Shakespeare films. Save yourself the misery and pass!
Rating: 
Summary: Total Frothy Fun
Review: Shakespeare at his lightest meets the old standards of musical comedy and vaudeville. This movie is an absolute hoot! Yes, it's Shakespeare, but it doesn't take itself seriously at all. The entire movie is suffused with the dignity of the Marx Brothers. The storyline about a young king and his faithful courtiers who renounce women for their studies is set in the period leading up to World War II. Unfortunately for the king and his reluctant companions, women are on their way and can't be avoided. And the women are fully determined to seduce our heros and make them pay for avoiding them. In addition to the main plot, there is a silly sub-plot about a woman who attempts to sneak into the domain of the king to meet her lover Don Armado (a character that could have been created by Monty Python) This sub-plot comes straight out of vaudeville complete with rubber chickens and mis-directed letters. The settings are beautiful and the attention to detail is remarkable. Even the martinis are color-coordinated! The use of fake 30s newsreel footage is wonderful. If you like slapstick and broad humor, you must see this movie. If you like musical comedies, you must see this movie. If you have always wondered what would happen if Shakespeare had been able to cast Esther Williams in his productions, you must see this movie. It successfully blends the pomp and prose of Shakespeare with the music of George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern and Irving Berlin.
Rating:
Summary: Just Great
Review: This is a great feel good movie. Don't let the fact that's its Shakespeare and a musical get you distracted. I only hope this disc will be as good as the region 2 disc. Good performance by the cast especially Branagh, McElhone and Silverstone, who is much better than everybody would have suspected. She has a great skill for comedy and is perfect when things need to get serious. The movie is very beautifully designed. Great costumes (the motive of the four colors is through the entire movie) and great set pieced reminding you of the old musicals. A recommendation for any movie fan.
Rating: 
Summary: LLL 40% Shakespeare, 100% fun
Review: Love's Labour's Lost is true to the spirit of Shakespeare's comedy if not the text itself. A delightfully entertaining blend of Gershwin, Porter, and a little bit of the Bard, LLL is highly recommended for musical theatre lovers and anyone willing to consider Renaissance theatre in ways not involving pantaloons and talking to skulls. Nathan Lane is brilliant as Costard, here interpreted as a struggling vaudevillian; Lane lends vocal support (the weakest area of the cast) to the eleven o'clock number "There's No Business Like Show Business." Though the ensemble struggles through some of the musical numbers, the bittersweet "They Can't Take That Away From Me" is all the more moving because of their difficulties. The only number which seems not to fit within the framework of the play/musical/film is also its chief selling point; LLL publicity has focused upon the Fosse-esque "Let's Face the Music and Dance," which stands out in an otherwise charmingly coquettish production as a sexually charged sore thumb. As always, theatricality dominates Branagh's directorial style; look for long, sweeping shots and entire scenes filmed with a single camera and no cut-aways. Though many critics lambasted Branagh for cutting well over half of Shakespeare's text, the musical interludes fulfill much of the function of the missing lines in a way that is a dead-on throwback to an earlier generation of entertainment.
Rating: 
Summary: A beautiful surprise
Review: Shakespeare meets Cole Porter, et.al. This is a wonderfully photographed and staged movie which nearly seamlessly includes some of the greatest popular music of the 20th Century. It is an opportunity to enjoy a "pure entertainment" movie in the tradition of the great production movies of the 30's while taking in a light story line of Shakespeare. This movie is great on several levels. The music brings a smile, the dancing and production numbers are fun and the mere idea of the whole thing is so zany it is fun to contemplate, too!
Rating:
Summary: Fun blend of genres, not for Shakespeare purists.
Review: I agree with most of the other reviewers - Branagh is great! I loved his Henry V, Benedict in Much Ado, Hamlet (bummed its not on DVD!) and his Iago in Othello was pretty good although it could have been a touch more evil. In those films he stayed quite true to the text. While I've claimed to be a Shakespeare purist in other reviews, unlike most purists, I have to say I liked this film.
I think I get where Branagh was coming from. He, like most Bard fans, believes Shakespeare was one of the greatest mirrors of the human condition of all time. In this film, Branagh stays true to that aspect of Shakespeare but takes it a step further by incorporating the works of other great portrayers of the human condition, albeit musically - the great song writers of the early 20th Century. Understood on that level, I think Branagh succeeded in blending these two mediums of commentary on love and the human condition and thereby pays homage to both in a very unique way.
If you're looking for a strict representation of Shakespeare's work, this isn't your film and there are plenty out there. But if you're looking for a fun, whimsical, and heart-warming film that pays homage to two great artistic genres and outstanding artists, one from the 16th century and several from the 20th century, this will do the trick.
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