Much Ado About Nothing

Prince Don Pedro (Reed) and his friends and officers Benedick (Denisof) and Claudio (Kranz) visit the home of Leonato (Gregg) the governor of Messina.  Don Pedro recently led a successful campaign against his rebellious brother, Don John (Maher), who is also at Leonato's home.

Immediately sparks fly between Claudio and Leonato's daughter Hero (Morgese), who are soon engaged.  Sparks also fly between Benedick and Hero's cousin Beatrice (Acker), who have a history and hate each other.  Don Pedro believes Benedick and Beatrice are perfect for each other and concocts a plan to bring them together.  Meanwhile, Don John plots to destroy Claudio and Hero's engagement, with the help of Conrad (Lindhome) and Borachio (Treat Clark).  Can the incompetent police, led by Dogberry (Fillion) and Verges (Lenk) keep the peace, or will the party and relationships spin out of control?

As I have mentioned before, I was an English major in college.  I love literature and recently purchased a book of the The Complete Works of William Shakespeare.  In addition, I am a great fan of Joss Whedon; I love his TV shows (I have every season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly) and other works.  The combination of the two was enough to leave me giddy with anticipation.  However, the film did not come to any cinemas near me, so I had to wait until it arrived in Netflix.  It was worth the wait!

This is probably my favorite version of Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing."  I love Kenneth Branagh's version... but I like this more.  Apparently Whedon has staged Shakespeare readings over the years, and this film came from that.  It was filmed in 12 days at Whedon's home, immediately after he finished filming The Avengers.

Whedon maintains the original dialogue and character names, but uses modern settings and clothing.  This changes some of the job titles, but makes the story more accessible for an audience that doesn't understand the language.  He also chose to film in black and white, which keeps the focus on the characters.

The cast is excellent.  The majority have appeared in other Whedon productions.  Alexis Denisoff and Amy Acker are great in the lead roles.  They have incredible chemistry (both appeared in Angel and Dollhouse) and are great with comedy and intense moments.  Reed Diamond (from Dollhouse) seems very comfortable as Don Pedro.  Sean Maher (Firefly) is a strong villain.  The rest of the cast is great, but the standouts have to be Nathan Fillion (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog) and Tom Lenk (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, The Cabin in the Woods).  Fillion and Lenk (pictured above) are the inept police officers (they are constables in the play) and play off each other well.  They get some of the best laughs, along with their underlings: the Watchmen (Nick Kocher and Brian McElhaney).

This film probably appeals more to Whedonites (who were already planning to see it), but I think it has a greater appeal.  Check it out (having a mild familiarity with Shakespeare helps but is not necessary).

Much Ado About Nothing (2013) 109 minutes
Rating: PG-13 for some sexuality and brief drug use
Director: Joss Whedon
Starring: Amy Acker as Beatrice
Alexis Denisof as Benedick
Reed Diamond as Don Pedro
Nathan Fillion as Dogberry
Clark Gregg as Leonato
Fran Kranz as Claudio
Sean Maher as Don John
Jillian Morgese as Hero
Spencer Treat Clark as Borachio
Riki Lindhome as Conrade
Ashley Johnson as Margaret
Emma Bates as Ursula
Tom Lenk as Verges
Nick Kocher as First Watchman
Brian McElhaney as Second Watchman