6.06.2012

50/50 Review #21: Much Ado About Nothing.

So, despite having a degree in English and Literature and having taught high school English, I actually haven't read all that much Shakespeare. Of course I know Romeo and Juliet rather well, as well as a little MacbethHamlet, Julius Caesar, and King Lear... but that's about it, and honestly I don't remember all that much about the latter two (I also know the basic stories of Taming of the Shrew, Midsummer Night's Dream, and Twelfth Night only due to other modernized adaptations). I never had to read anything else (excluding the sonnets), nor did I do so on my own time. So, needless to say, I had no idea what the story to this was going into it.

The story begins as Don Pedro (Denzel Washington) comes to reside at Leonato's (Richard Briers) for a while with his men. Amongst them is Claudio (Robert Sean Leonard), who immediately falls in love with Leonato's daughter, Hero (Kate Beckinsale) and must marry her. But while waiting for the wedding, the household plans to play cupid and hook up Benedick (Kenneth Branagh) and Leonato's neice, Beatrice (Emma Thompson), both of whom are shrewish bachelors-for-life. Unfortunately, Don Pedro's bastard brother, Don John (Keanu Reeves), plans to seek revenge on Don Pedro and mess up their plans, and it might work... if inept nightwatchman Dogberry (Michael Keaton) doesn't get in the way. The film also co-stars Imelda Staunton as Margaret, who I believe is a handmaiden to Hero (or something along those lines).

I'm sure when you think of Shakespeare, Denzel Washington, Michael Keaton, and Keanu Reeves aren't the first people to come to mind. I mean, seriously, somebody had to have this conversation: "We need a villain for this Shakespeare movie... and he must be brothers with Denzel Washington. I've got it! Keanu Reeves!" Seriously though, despite the unusual casting, it all rather works. Keanu is broody, and he doesn't talk a whole lot, which is probably why he gets away with it. Denzel is absolutely fantastic in the role and should probably do more Shakespeare, to be honest. Of course, Branagh and Thompson feel like they were transported from Elizabethan England and perform effortlessly. But it was Michael Keaton who I felt stole every scene he was in. He was quite hilarious and had me laughing quite a bit.

In fact, the movie itself had me laughing out loud at numerous points. It took me a while to get into the language--Elizabethan is tricky enough to get used to, but Shakespearean dialogue is so fast and so full of wit and puns that if you stop paying attention for a second, you'll miss out on the meaning of the conversation. Sure, you can get the gist of it, but you'll lose out on the wordplay (and I like my wordplay). But once I was focused, I was entranced. The film moved so quickly, it didn't feel like an hour and 50 minutes. And a large portion of that had to do with the film's charm and humor and overall language.

That upside is also the downside. At times things did move so fast I had a hard time keeping up or knowing what was going on. In fact, I had no idea what was going on in Keaton's first two scenes that I had to look it up. I actually thought he was a bad guy or thief or something like that, only to discover quite the opposite. And unless I missed something, I'm still not sure Don John's motivation outside of just feeling like he gets the short end of the stick in relation to his brother. And if that's the case, it's a weak motivation (not really a fault of the movie, I suppose, though). I mean, on the whole I followed the film fine, but there were scenes here and there that totally lost me and I had to get a quick summary to figure out what was happening.

It's just a happy movie. Even when it's being serious and dastardly plots are afoot, you know nothing bad is really going to happen. It's a great romantic comedy from Shakespeare (even if it follows the Shakespearean tropes of falling madly in love at first sight). The performances are great all around. A good film all around, and I do recommend it to those who like the genre (Shakespearean language or not).


A Keanu 'Whoa'


(P.S. That rating is just coincidental.)

8 comments:

  1. Off to a great start! It's been awhile since I've watched this one, but, like I said on twitter last night, I'm pretty sure it was my introduction to Shakespeare, only because we watched everything Denzel made at the time. Your enthusiasm has me needing to watch it again soon though. Hope the rest of the month goes as well.

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    1. I hope the rest of the month goes well, too. Though I have a feeling the others won't be nearly as happy as this one.

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  2. I might have to give this one a second chance. I really like Shakespeare but was feeling particularly mischievous, so I tried to derail the class by arguing that this was "a mediocre puff piece" and that the play was "the Bard's version of a 'Love Boat' episode."

    The professor -- a far smarter and more clever fellow than myself -- countered with "And?... Think about what he called this play." That prof was awesome.

    Good luck with TITUS, or as I like to think of it, "the Bard does torture porn."

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    1. Sounds like an awesome prof. And you're not the first person to warn me about Titus... great...

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  3. It's so weird about this one, because I had to do the play for Lit in school and as far as Shakespeare comedies go on the page I'm not too fond of this one, but it REALLY works as a film due to Branagh's way with the Bard.

    You're generally right about Don John's weak motivations (as a Shakespeare fan, Don John's motivations as a villain have always been specious, although I know some people find his lack of motivation that much more humorous.)

    And, it bears being repeated - Emma Thompson is just magnificent here.

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    1. Yeah, I have a feeling Branagh's interpretation really had a lot to do with it.

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  4. When I saw this film on AMC, the host said that Don John was "a villian with no motive". That sums it up well, but there honestly are people in this world who are mean, evil, or troublemakers just because they can be without any real motive behind it. Rachel & I have always enjoyed this movie. Denzel rocks, Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson do what they do best, and Michael Keaton is just hysterical. I think this is the one that introduced us to Kate Beckinsale...

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    1. That is true. But at the same time, Don John also wasn't malevolent enough for the lack of motive to work. To me, it's like "you have a reason or you're batshit insane." And he was just... there. Doing stuff, because he could, and that stuff wasn't even anything major.

      Michael Keaton was great, though. I'd like to note he called me an ass!

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