Much Ado About Nothing (2012): A Review

Hello, my lovelies!

I am so excited to be starting this series on reviews of movies based off classic tales. Today’s review is Joss Whedon’s film based on Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing.

I utterly adore the original play- it’s my favorite of Shakespeare’s works- and I was a little apprehensive about this movie. I’d read mixed reviews but I have a lot of respect for the people involved. I went into it not knowing what exactly to expect.

Much Ado About Nothing (2012)

4.5 Stars

What I Liked:

The Cast: If you have watched anything Joss Whedon has been involved in you will recognize at least one actor in this movie. This movie is filled with incredibly talented people- Amy Acker, Alexis Denisof, Nathan Fillion, Clark Gregg, Reed Diamond, Sean Maher, and so many more.

And each one of them brings their character to life in unbelievable ways. Their acting is stellar, especially Amy Acker and Alexis Denisof as Beatrice and Benedick. They’re incredible.

The Setting: This movie was made for fun by Joss Whedon at his house. You can tell this is true as the men settle into a bedroom with a Barbie house and stuffed animals and the police station is clearly in a basement.

The simplicity of the setting juxtaposed with the amazing acting is beautiful because it proves how incredible Shakespeare’s works really are. They can be performed anywhere, on any platform, with any setting and they’re still the same. It shows just how much the actors carry the work, not where it is filmed. This play doesn’t need beautiful sweeping landscapes or jaw-dropping costumes. It needs its characters brought to life and that is what this version does.

Beatrice and Benedick: I already mentioned how wonderfully these two are played, but I need to gush about them some more.

The casting choices are A+ and these two play their roles to perfection. The scenes with them are some of the funniest I’ve ever seen- no matter how many times I watch this movie I actually laugh out loud every single time. I don’t do that often when I’m watching stuff alone.

The Way They Make The Story Come Alive: This is Much Ado About Nothing for me- I don’t need any other version for me to be happy. It obviously doesn’t beat seeing it performed live- nothing is ever a substitute for that- but this is the best movie version I’ve ever seen and I think I ever will. The way they bring this story to life, I can’t even put it into words.

They don’t add anything to Shakespeare’s words. Every line in this show- save one place where ‘Jew’ is used to mean ‘fool’ which is what they swapped it out for- is exactly as Shakespeare wrote it. But with their facial expressions, their inflections, their movements and actions, they add another layer to the story. They add meaning to certain scenes, bring depth that wasn’t there before, and just make the story come alive in ways I didn’t know I needed until I saw this version.

It's the kind of movie you can watch over and over again and find another facial expression that you missed, another subtle movement, another slight inflection. It just gets deeper the more you watch it.

I cannot say enough good things about this movie. I could gush forever, except I don’t want to spoil things for anyone who wants to experience it spoiler free.

What I Didn’t Like:

The Sexual Content: There is one thing I didn’t like about this movie, though it’s broken into smaller parts. But it basically all boils down to the sex.

I know Shakespeare can be full of inappropriate things and this story certainly has thematic elements that can’t be ignored but it always makes me sad when people draw attention to that and make it a main focus of the story.

The movie’s intro, for example, in keeping with no added lines, it a silent little snippet of Beatrice and Benedick waking up in bed together, clearly after sex. I know they added it because of that curious little exchange later where Beatrice implies that she and Benedick had been in a relationship before but it’s honestly just such a strange scene. There’s a confusing air to it that possibly comes simply from my complete lack of understand of secular romance? But knowing they slept together before falling in love honestly makes it harder for me to believe that years later they’re able to form a different sort of relationship. I feel that by adding that to their past it should have made things even weirder between them. It should almost change the entire story.

And then there are two other instances with sensuality that are quite frankly just a little too passionate for me. I would have preferred things to be more tastefully, less in your face. That’s the one downside to having a movie instead of a play- you generally get things like this handled more bluntly rather than subtly. I wish they would have taken a different direction with that.

Overall:

This is my favorite Shakespeare play and given that I already know what is happening and I know which parts to skip, the sexual content isn’t a huge deterrent for me. It does make me a little hesitant to recommend it to others though. But if you’re okay with skipping parts of the story or that sort of thing isn’t an issue for you then you should definitely watch this movie. Like, right now.

It’s an incredible portrayal of a classic that does the original work the justice it deserves. I look forward to watching it again and again to help me always remember just how much I love this story and why exactly.

And here's the playlist for the play (it also fits the movie, as little is changed)

I hope to see you all on Monday for a post on creativity. Until the next time we meet, don’t forget to live happily ever after <3

~Jennifer Sauer, the Ivory Palace Princess

P.S. Let’s Chat! What is your favorite of Shakespeare’s plays? Which one would you like to see turned into a movie?