Review of Much Ado About Nothing (2013) by Lizzie W — 17 Jun 2013

This was an absolute treat for Joss Whedon fans: an intimate film, filmed over 12 days in Joss's house with some of his best friends and lots of familiar faces for Whedonites. All the cast performed impeccably - nobody was wooden - and on the whole were cast well. I have watched Ken Branagh's version lots of times (I love it) so I cannot help comparing.

While Amy Acker gives a stand out performance as Beatrice, balancing vulnerability and sassiness, and Alexis Denisoff performs Benedick with ease and provides lots of funnies, I do think Emma & Ken's performances were warmer and Ken's deliverance of Benedick outshines Alexis's by a fairly long way. In Ken's, Benedick very much took centre stage, whereas here, Beatrice does, but this is fitting given that this is a Joss Whedon film!

Where Joss's shines in comparison is the execution of the 'baddies', unsurprisingly; he gives them real motivation and back story. Sean Maher is deliciously creepy, and the gender change of Conrade gave him an extra sliminess. A surprise delight for me was Spencer Treat Clark as Borachio. I hadn't fully appreciated that Borachio was the true author of the central treachery, and Spencer's bitterness and mean-spirited performance was great to watch.

I also MUCH preferred Nathan Fillion's charismatic and hilarious Dogberry to Michael Keaton's grotesque irritating one; and pairing him with Tom Lenk was genius. I have read that some think Nathan would have been a great Benedick - I can see that - but it would have been a shame to miss out on this pairing! (Also, the echoes of Fred & Wesley were a treat). "BriTANick" also brought smiles just by being on screen!

One particular scene that worked better than in Ken's version was when Benedick challenges Claudio: in Ken's Claudio & Don Pedro come across as if they don't have a care in the world, whereas having Claudio dealing with his grief and shock by getting drunk makes that scene work better. Fran Kranz plays Claudio as genuine (albeit mostly drunk) and starry-eyed rather than love-sick and po-faced, and Reed Diamond is a solid Don Pedro. Clark Gregg, of course, highly likeable and amusing as Leonato, and he handles that difficult and emotional wedding scene extremely well.

I've probably unfairly knocked a star off, purely because I think had Joss had more time and a bigger budget the production could have resulted in an even more beautiful-looking film. I also think the music could have been lusher, and there were times that I felt music was lacking where there should have been some. Having said that, this film is a fantastic achievement given the circumstances, intimate, fun and with expert performances all-round.