Much Ado About Nothing (Joss Whedon)

[number8]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b6/MuchAdo.jpg

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2094064/

[number8]

This was wonderful.

What sets it apart from other modernized Shakespeares like Romeo + Juliet is the fantastic performances that, rather than just updating the visuals but still delivering the dialogue like traditional Shakespeare performances would, make the movie walk and talk like a contemporary romantic comedy instead, with the lines delivered in a hip, modern cadence. It actually makes me realize that the stereotypical Whedon dialogue is pretty much some valley girl version of Shakespeare, because his regular actors deliver them the exact same way they would his irony-dripped lines and it doesn't seem out of place at all.

It's weird—if it weren't for the dialogue, you could probably convince people Whedon wrote this himself, because it hits on his usual tropes. Quick tonal shifts, a woman's sexuality victimized because of her gender, friendships ripped by distrust, enemies becoming lovers.

He changed almost nothing from the play, but he did add some pretty great visual gags, using ironic juxtaposition. Benedict's serious line about never being married is delivered while he's sitting in a little girl's room next to a Ken & Barbie dollhouse, that kind of thing.

My favorite example of this: When Claudio delivers the "I'll hold my mind, were she an Ethiope" line, Whedon frames Kranz with a black extra in the background cocking her head and squinting did he just say what I think he said like, and a few other extras around her cringing.

It's a really, really funny movie. A lot of it comes from the play's humor, but some of it are just great broad comedy. Nathan Fillion plays Dogberry like a bumbling David Caruso, punctuating lines like "I leave an arrant knave with your worship" with putting on his shades, and it works soooo well.

[Mara]

I am so jealous. When do I get to see this?

[number8]

By the way, the movie opens with Denisof and Acker in bed together, and it did take me a couple of minutes to remind myself that they're not Fred and Wesley.

[Mara]

By the way, the movie opens with Denisof and Acker in bed together, and it did take me a couple of minutes to remind myself that they're not Fred and Wesley.

Just remember: they are Senator Perrin and Doctor Saunders.

[number8]

Yeah but Denisof sports a stubble and carries around a gun in the movie so he looked way more like Sexy Rogue Wesley.

[Mara]

Yeah but Denisof sports a stubble and carries around a gun in the movie so he looked way more like Sexy Rogue Wesley.

DAMMIT 8 YOU KNOW I CAN'T SEE IT YET STOP TRYING TO HURT ME.

Now my entire afternoon is booked with Sexy Rogue Wesley thoughts.

[Mara]

Since I don't think I can get to NYC just to watch a film, I probably won't see this until late June.

Grumble grumble grumble.

[Mara]

This is a film that all my friends and relations say they want to see, but nobody will go with me.

I DON'T NEED THEM.

[Fezzik]

This opens here this weekend. I'm hoping to get a group together to see it. If not, I'll go by my damned self.

[[ETM]]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BNSWe6ICIAAwliJ.jpg

[Mara]

Well, this was charming as all git out.

You can't go far wrong with this material, but Whedon's touches of humor and his excellent sense of space and setting really add something here. I love that many of the problematic plot elements are explained by the rampant drunkenness (I think every scene has people scarfing alcohol.) The actors are all really strong, except maybe Hero, but her character is such a cipher to me that it wasn't too distracting.

Acker is the real star, here. Yeesh. She owns Beatrice.

Looking up the actors I recognized but couldn't place: hey, Borachio is the kid from Unbreakable! And Margaret was... well, I'm embarrassed I remember her now. She was the poor retail clerk that Alpha kidnaps and implants with Caroline's personality when he's trying to make Echo into Omega.

And I'd like to think that Whedon cast Riki Lindhome as Conrad after remembering her awesome work as "cheerleader in a cast" from the Buffy season 7 episode "Him."

I want to rewatch this several times. I feel like there were a lot of little moments I missed.

My favorite little moment I caught, though, was when the prince was coming up with his crazy I-will-woo-in-your-name plan, and Claudio looks at him like, how does that even make sense? Fran Kranz's FACE. Wouldn't have thought that Kranz would be a lock for Claudio, but he finds the line between swoony romantic and temperamental moron that works.

[Fezzik]

This was pretty damn great. Beautifully filmed, well acted and just a jaunty piece of Shakespeare. Acker and Kranz were the standouts to me, though I don't think there was anyone in the principal cast that was bad.

Fillion and Lenk made me giddy with delight as Dogberry and Verges. The bit with the jackets was a great addition.

Gorgeous as hell all the way through, too.

I know I already mentioned him, but damn Fran Kranz was good in this. I didn't even recognize him at first, but between this and Cabin in the Woods I think I may have found a new favorite up and comer.

Mara, that scene you mention between him and the prince was absolutely perfect. When reading (and performing) the play, that scene always got a "WTF?" from me, so it was great to see it translate to screen.

Whedon and crew have a lot to be proud of.

Also, I want his house. Just sayin.

[Lucky]

All your words of encouragement have me amped to see this on Sunday. Will report back.

[amberlita]

Last time I saw a movie in the theater, I became so physically afflicted I was off work for nearly a month and wound up having surgery (not joking, long story). It was Iron Man 3 and it was so not worth it.

Only Shakespeare + Joss Whedon could get me past my aversion to returning to the theater. Damn he did this well. I usually find Shakespeare performed with an American accent to be like listening to Bach as performed by a kazoo player (and part of me still wishes I could have heard Alexis Denisof deliver this script in his Wesley accent), but the lines are delivered with such nuance that it ceases to sound unnatural. The cadence feels off at times, but not distractingly so.

However, I will never EVER get used to seeing a character flash a gun when referencing a sword.

Never been my favorite Shakespeare play, mostly for the needlessly dark turn it takes. But Whedon and the cast are able to remove the weirdly malicious tones that some of the characters appear to take on the page (the confrontation at the wedding, Beatrice's request of Benedick re: Claudio, etc.) and interpret the motivation on all sides as that from heartbreak rather than true anger. That Acker was able to strike this balance in the "That I were a man" speech is impressive. Always thought it's the moment that Beatrice risks becoming unsympathetic. Acker killed it.

Agreed about Fran Kranz. My respect for him grows with every single performance. Whedon helped with a few choice edits in the script but ultimately it was Kranz who did what I'd previously considered unthinkable: he humanized Claudio.

Anyway. That was wonderful.

[Mara]

I know I already mentioned him, but damn Fran Kranz was good in this. I didn't even recognize him at first, but between this and Cabin in the Woods I think I may have found a new favorite up and comer.

Have you seen Dollhouse? Because he broke my brain in that show. I'm like, "Who is this guy? He's funny. Why am I sobbing?"

[Mara]

I know I missed a lot in the scene where Benedick was exercising to model his physique for Beatrice, because I was shrieking so hard that I was embarrassed and trying to muffle myself with my hands.

[Mara]

Whedon helped with a few choice edits in the script but ultimately it was Kranz who did what I'd previously considered unthinkable: he humanized Claudio.

Yes! I need to watch it again, carefully, but I noticed some omissions, specifically making it seem that Hero's supposed crime wasn't so much unchastity as it was disloyalty.

Also, thanks to google, I realized that a line I thought they cut ("Be sure you prove my love a whore") was actually from Othello. Shows how grim this play gets, if I could mix those two up.

[Mara]

Okay, I promise to stop posting* but did anyone else notice how much this didn't seem... cheap? Other than one or two moments, the whole thing felt slick and professional. I wouldn't have guessed how shoe-string the budget was if I hadn't been told.



*not because I'm done with my thoughts, but because I am physically leaving the house.

[number8]

He changed Claudio's "If I do not love her, I am a Jew" to "I am a fool."

[Ivan Drago]

This was sublime.

[Lucky]

Amy Acker glows. I wish she had a verbal sparring partner on her level. I know I speak Match-Cut blasphemy in this, but unfortunately Denisof's charms are forever lost on me. I can't help but wonder if Whedon somehow pulled Avengers strings and convinced Robert Downey Jr. to take on the role. I'm amazed at how well this all actually works and pulls together, though. This is the strongest modern interpretation of the play I could have hoped for. Kudos to the original songs, too, which elevated the masquerade and funeral scenes.

[number8]

I was just made aware that apparently there is a modern adaptation a few years ago starring David Tennant and Catherine Tate as Benedick and Beatrice.

http://www.digitaltheatre.com/production/details/much-ado-about-nothing-tennant-tate

[Mara]

I was just made aware that apparently there is a modern adaptation a few years ago starring David Tennant and Catherine Tate as Benedick and Beatrice.

I think this is a recording of a live play. I remember hearing about it.

[number8]

It is. But the link is to the officially released taping.

[dreamdead]

Not sure there's much substance behind this, as Hero's plight is rather undercut by the excellence of Acker. I wish there'd have been some nonverbal way that Whedon had been able to further explore the repercussions of the sexist society concerning sexual purity. By adapting it into modern-day, there felt like there needed to be some treatment on that for me.

That said, it's finely acted and a lot of the little visual touches totally work for me.

[Ivan Drago]

;484065']https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BNSWe6ICIAAwliJ.jpg

Rocky IV at midnight would be grand.

[number8]

I wish there'd have been some nonverbal way that Whedon had been able to further explore the repercussions of the sexist society concerning sexual purity. By adapting it into modern-day, there felt like there needed to be some treatment on that for me.

Mara mentioned this a little, but Whedon actually did.

He added that opening scene of Hero and Benedick having a one night stand. This is a pretty big context shift, because the fact that the dudes, including Claudio, are trying to set Benedick up with a woman they know to be unchaste means that they're not that concerned about virginity. Which changes Claudio's rejection of Hero to be about her loyalty rather than her virginity.

[Yxklyx]

So I haven't liked Whedon's films (Avengers, Serenity). I feel his style is very uninspired and bland - TVish. Buffy was fine but never went out of my way to watch it. I like Shakespeare - would I like this?

[Ezee E]

Is this a thing for Whedon fans only? Because I didn't dig it at all. The moment actors started speaking, it just felt too rehearsed, like many modern Shakespeare movies do. It was essentially pint and shoot to me. The black and white almost seems like it was done because at least it gave it some type of style, as I'm guessing it was in color beforehand. It certainly didn't seem to be any better in B&W...

Hmm... Just not for me I think.

[Skitch]

There is nothing more painful to my ears than an actor speaking Shakespeare's words and clearly not understanding their meaning...luckily that is not something one has to deal with here. Joss Whedon is like a directing vacuum, he could suck a great performance out of an orangutan.

[Thirdmango]

I've seen a lot of great Shakespeare and this is probably my favorite one on film. I was actually able to find it on Redbox believe it or not.

[eternity]

Is this a thing for Whedon fans only? Because I didn't dig it at all. The moment actors started speaking, it just felt too rehearsed, like many modern Shakespeare movies do. It was essentially pint and shoot to me. The black and white almost seems like it was done because at least it gave it some type of style, as I'm guessing it was in color beforehand. It certainly didn't seem to be any better in B&W...

Hmm... Just not for me I think.
Basically this. I mean...I was amused by the juxtaposition of Shakespeare text with how aggressively modern everything else was, but it just didn't work for me on any other level. It was odd for odd's sake.

[Sycophant]

Thought this was overall really successful. It's fun, the performances work, and the

Some little things didn't work. The photography overall was a little bland, with rare exception (especially at the beginning), and is hurt further by the really bland, medium tones of the monochrome visuals. To echo what E said, it looked like it was shot in color and then just had the saturation drop out entirely, making the lighting look really unremarkable and muddy.

Also, I didn't care for the music--particularly the songs--and the few times smart phones and iPods came out, kinda jokey and hacky.

But I am complaining more than I need to, because I really liked this a lot. I'm no Whedonite, but the cast injected a lot of fun and life into their performances, giving the play the vivacity it deserves.