Much Ado About Nothing

Leonato: (reads text on cellphone) I learn in this letter that Don Peter of Arragon comes this night to Messina.

Thus begins Joss Whedon's Much Ado About Nothing, a modern retelling of the Shakespearean classic about four people and their journey to love. 

Here is the basic plot (stolen from IMDB): 
Leonato (Clark Gregg), the governor of Messina, is visited by his friend Don Pedro (Reed Diamond) who is returning from a victorious campaign against his rebellious brother Don John (Sean Maher). Accompanying Don Pedro are two of his officers: Benedick (Alexis Denisof) and Claudio (Fran Kranz). While in Messina, Claudio falls for Leonato's daughter Hero (Jillian Morgese), while Benedick verbally spars with Beatrice (Amy Acker), the governor's niece. The budding love between Claudio and Hero prompts Don Pedro to arrange with Leonato for a marriage. In the days leading up to the ceremony, Don Pedro, with the help of Leonato, Claudio and Hero, attempts to sport with Benedick and Beatrice in an effort to trick the two into falling in love. Meanwhile, the villainous Don John, with the help of his allies Conrade (Riki Lindhome) and Borachio (Spencer Treat Clark), plots against the happy couple, using his own form of trickery to try to destroy the marriage before it begins.

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When I first saw the commercials for Much Ado About Nothing, I was immediately intrigued. Not only did it have a stellar cast, but it was going to be in black and white too? Count me in! I was excited to finally go see it last night and I can honestly say I wasn't disappointed (although when we came out of the theater it was pouring rain and I got completely soaked on the way back to the car!). The modern setting with the classic Shakespearean dialogue took a little getting used to, but once you did it was a lot of fun and allowed for some great moments, like Leonato getting a text and calling it a letter or the horribly incompetent security/police, lead by Nathan Fillion, wearing ear pieces and packing heat.

Being a big fan of a lot of the cast, it was fun to see them play serious, yet silly roles. Alexis Denisof, who played Benedick, starts off the movie quite cynical, making fun of love and matrimony, but once Leonato, Don Pedro and Claudio trick him into falling in love with Beatrice, he gets all mushy and lovesick. It's all kinds of great. One of the best scenes is when the three conspirators are talking up Beatrice and how in love she is so that Benedick will overhear...and Benedick tries to inconspicuously eavesdrop and fails miserably.

Given the location of the shoot - Joss Whedon's home - there are some great set scenarios, such as Benedick and Claudio staying in what is clearly a little girl's room, with two twin beds and lots of stuffed animals. The backyard is beautiful and includes a mini amphitheater, the brainchild of Joss Whedon's architect wife, Kai Cole.

Because the dialogue stays true to the original play, there is no profanity in Much Ado About Nothing...it does, however, deserve its PG13 rating. Mostly through flashback, you learn that Benedick and Beatrice had an amorous relationship in the past. Don John gets more than a little handsy with Conrade (played by a woman in the movie) in one scene and when trying to ruin Hero's reputation, Borachio and the maid (Margaret?) have a romantic liaison in Hero's room, to make it appear that Hero is not virtuous. For more information on content, check out the PluggedIn review. 

Overall it was a very entertaining movie and particularly so for anyone who is a fan of Joss Whedon or any member of the cast. While taking the rating into consideration, I would still definitely recommend watching this adaptaion of Much Ado About Nothing.

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Some fun facts about Much Ado About Nothing: 
1. The movie was shot in 12 days at Joss Whedon's home in Santa Monica.
2. Joss Whedon wrote the screenplay, directed, produced and wrote some original music for the movie. 
3. The movie is in black and white. 
4. Joss Whedon changed only one line from the original text.
5. Kai Cole (Joss Whedon's wife) appears briefly in the movie, as the party-goer who dives into the pool.
6. The movie was shot on a micro-budget, which is even less money than it takes to shoot a a low budget film. The exact dollar amount was apparently not disclosed (at least not that I could find).
7. Alexis Denisof and Allison Hannigan (Alexis' wife) are the godparents of Joss' son, Arden. His daughter is (unfortunately) named Squire. I know it's not really movie-related, but it's still a "fun fact." :)
8. The cast was basically a "family reunion," since almost every main cast members had worked for Joss Whedon in previous productions: Nathan Fillion (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog), Amy Acker (Angel, Dollhouse, The Cabin in the Woods), Ashley Johnson (Dollhouse, The Avengers), Alexis Denisof (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Dollhouse,The Avengers), Clark Gregg (The Avengers), Sean Maher (Firefly), Jillian Morgese (Angel), Reed Diamond (Dollhouse), Riki Lindhome (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Fran Kranz (Dollhouse, The Cabin in the Woods), Tom Lenk (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, The Cabin in the Woods). 



~ Katie