Much Ado About Nothing is a good film adaptation.
Much Ado About Nothing is a good film adaptation. In fact, it is very good. If not for other geeky people, I might not have gone to see it. Having done so, I can say it would have been my loss. You need know nor care nothing for Joss Whedon or associates to enjoy this as Shakespeare. You don't even have to have much of a grasp of Shakespeare.
In the words of an old John Lithgow sketch ... Acting! Thank you.
SPOILER SPACE
IN CASE,
FOR SOME REASON,
YOU DON"T KNOW
THE SCOTTISH PLAY.
I MEAN,
THIS PLAY.
WHICH IS STILL SHAKESPEARE,
BUT NOT
THE SCOTTISH ONE.
IS THAT ENOUGH SPACE?
The black and white Mad Men vibe really worked, aided by the bossa nova version of Sigh No More Whedon wrote. Shout out to the masked ball peeps, you know who you are. This entire film looks like one of the holiday socials, at least for imbibing. I wonder how much of that was real? The last party scene, whether intended so or no, struck me as an 80's flashback. Joss Whedon's house - yeah, that.
Alexis Denisof is funny. His face, the physical comedy, his hurt feelings when Beatrice is mean, his determination to fight Claudio - he's really good. Obs trained LAMDA.
Amy Acker was equally creditable as Beatrice. I kind of wish she'd had as many soliloquys as Benedick. She was great with the quick back and forth verbal sparring.
Sean Maher is malevolent. Creepy, malicious, seductive. Not a nice man. He is awesome. Don John has hints of being more than a two dimensional cut-out villain, but you often don't see that. This guy? Is a sociopath.
Hero (Jillian Morghese) is surprisingly not cloying and one dimensional, which happens all too often. She's a person, not a plot device.
Spot the guy with the real British accent! Hint, there's always a friar in these things.
Lastly, Dogberry (Nathan Fillion). This is such a difficult character for audiences. Even if you know Shakespeare, I think this one challenges people. It's one long malapropism and it's challenging just to say the lines clearly, never mind then act the part. Plus, Fillion manages to throw a few things in that make you wonder if he's adding little hints of self-parody. By the time they lock the keys in the car, it's predictable but you still think it's funny. "Do not forget to specify ... that I am an ass."
The handful of obvious stage tricks and screen shots is entirely forgivable in the context of a really well done adaptation that beats out many other performances I've seen on stage and screen.
Five thumbs up out of five.
In the words of an old John Lithgow sketch ... Acting! Thank you.
SPOILER SPACE
IN CASE,
FOR SOME REASON,
YOU DON"T KNOW
THE SCOTTISH PLAY.
I MEAN,
THIS PLAY.
WHICH IS STILL SHAKESPEARE,
BUT NOT
THE SCOTTISH ONE.
IS THAT ENOUGH SPACE?
The black and white Mad Men vibe really worked, aided by the bossa nova version of Sigh No More Whedon wrote. Shout out to the masked ball peeps, you know who you are. This entire film looks like one of the holiday socials, at least for imbibing. I wonder how much of that was real? The last party scene, whether intended so or no, struck me as an 80's flashback. Joss Whedon's house - yeah, that.
Alexis Denisof is funny. His face, the physical comedy, his hurt feelings when Beatrice is mean, his determination to fight Claudio - he's really good. Obs trained LAMDA.
Amy Acker was equally creditable as Beatrice. I kind of wish she'd had as many soliloquys as Benedick. She was great with the quick back and forth verbal sparring.
Sean Maher is malevolent. Creepy, malicious, seductive. Not a nice man. He is awesome. Don John has hints of being more than a two dimensional cut-out villain, but you often don't see that. This guy? Is a sociopath.
Hero (Jillian Morghese) is surprisingly not cloying and one dimensional, which happens all too often. She's a person, not a plot device.
Spot the guy with the real British accent! Hint, there's always a friar in these things.
Lastly, Dogberry (Nathan Fillion). This is such a difficult character for audiences. Even if you know Shakespeare, I think this one challenges people. It's one long malapropism and it's challenging just to say the lines clearly, never mind then act the part. Plus, Fillion manages to throw a few things in that make you wonder if he's adding little hints of self-parody. By the time they lock the keys in the car, it's predictable but you still think it's funny. "Do not forget to specify ... that I am an ass."
The handful of obvious stage tricks and screen shots is entirely forgivable in the context of a really well done adaptation that beats out many other performances I've seen on stage and screen.
Five thumbs up out of five.
I agree with pretty much all of this.
ReplyDeleteSemi-related: Relative to the Branagh ... I actually can't say which I prefer. They somehow manage to use almost literally the same story to push slightly different buttons. The Branagh one feels more polished (for OBVIOUS reasons), where the sense of everyone having a really great time making this thing is more palpable in Whedon's.
Also, there's an interesting shift in emphasis of certain tones in the story, not just because of what period the dress is in or the filming style. Whedon's is, quite frankly, about a million times sexier in all kinds of ways, and it's not just because there's more skin shown.
I'd say they make a better compare/contrast exercise than one being strictly better (and I think that's a huge compliment to Whedon's version).
Alex Goddard I agree. In fact, doing that with this play, instead of Romeo & Juliet in high school would make so much more sense.
ReplyDeleteF-L Silver GOD YES, I will never understand why R&J is so loved as student-level Shakespeare. Give us the comedies, for goodness sake, people. . . but I digress.
ReplyDeleteI have always enjoyed Branagh's version, but one of the reasons I have been looking forward to this is to see Don John done well. I am no enemy of Keanu as a performer, but Branagh did so much visually to make him slimy, I found it difficult for Keanu's somewhat more subtle performance to match that level.
Shakespeare's villains are highly sought after by actors, but are extremely difficult to pull off without seeming a purely one-dimensional, "I am evil because it is in the script." I was hoping that Whedon's skill with bad guys could rise to the occasion and it's exciting to hear someone say he succeeded.
I've been just giddy about this film since I found out it was happening and, even though I will most likely have to wait to see it, I am thoroughly looking forward to the experience.