Review of Much Ado About Nothing (1993) by Stuart K — 29 Mar 2014

Directed by Kenneth Branagh, who had made a name for himself with adapting Shakespeare's Henry V (1989), then he went off to Hollywood to do Dead Again (1991), then returned to England to make the nostalgic Peter's Friends (1992).

Here he returned to Shakespeare, adapting his 1598 play, and making it a sunny, cheerful and funny adaptation. At the country estate of Messina, owned by Leonato (Richard Briers). Prince Don Pedro (Denzel Washington), along with Benedick (Branagh) and his brother Claudio (Robert Sean Leonard) come to visit after quashing an uprising led by Don Pedro's half-brother Don John (Keanu Reeves).

Claudio has strong feelings for Leonato's daughter Hero (Kate Beckinsale), and Don Pedro arranges a party for them. Benedick has strong feelings for Leonato's niece Beatrice (Emma Thompson), but she proves to be a hard woman to get.

But, Don John turns up to ruin everything, but local constable Dogberry (Michael Keaton) is determined to stop Don John. It has a massive all star cast, all set against the back drop of Tuscany. It has some good set pieces, and a lot of misunderstandings with some brilliant performances thrown in.

Branagh succeeds here at making Shakespeare look trendy and cool, long before Baz Luhrmann did it with Romeo + Juliet (1996).