movie report: Much Ado about Nothing (2012)
If
you don’t like Shakespeare, this might be the movie for you. If you do like
Shakespeare, it definitely is.
I
heard about this movie when it first came out, but missed it in the theaters.
What got my attention was that it was directed by Joss Whedon, who also
directed some of my favorite movies and TV shows, including Firefly, Serenity,
and The Avengers. Apparently, Whedon grabbed a bunch of his actor friends and
shot the whole movie in 12 days.
It’s
modern dress, modern setting (his own large, but not a mansion, house), and
modern acting. And it’s awfully funny. You’ll spot lots of actors you’ve seen
in other recent things, including Amy Acker (Person of Interest), Nathan
Fillion and Sean Maher (Firefly and Serenity), Clark Gregg (Avengers), and Riki
Lindhome (Big Bang Theory).
There
are 3 intertwined stories. There’s recently been a civil war between two
brother princes: Don Pedro won, Don John lost, and both are now guests of
Leonato.
Meanwhile,
Claudio falls in love with Leonato’s daughter, and eventually wins her
affections.
Meanwhile
meanwhile, Beatrice and Benedick are two other guests who are constantly
dissing each other. However, their friends believe that they are made for each
other, if they would only shut up. They are each led to believe that the other
is in love with them, and as a result they really do fall in love with each
other. Their dialogue is fantastic, full of the wildest insults and a lot of
fun.
Meanwhile
meanwhile meanwhile, the bad Don John tricks Claudio into thinking that his fiancée
has been untrue.
Hijinks
ensue, eventually all is explained, and everyone gets married.
Although
a lot of the humor comes from the dialogue and wordplay, a good deal comes from
what you see happening. Two tough ex-soldiers are assigned to what is obviously
a little girl’s room filled with stuffed animals. Benedick manages to fit some
pushups into one scene with Beatrice, the better to impress her with his
physique. Beatrice slinks around trying to eavesdrop and ends up under a
kitchen counter. Nathan Fillion is terrific as a bumbling policeman who can’t
quite pronounce the big words.
Pedantic
aside #1: In Shakespeare’s day, the words “nothing” and “noting” sounded alike,
so the title is actually a pun: much ado about noting, meaning perceiving what
you’re primed to perceive. Benedick and Beatrice believe that the other is in
love with them, so they interpret everything from that point of view. Claudio
is told that what he’s seeing is his fiancée being untrue, so that’s what he
thinks he sees. And so on.
Pedantic
aside #2: The word “an” also means “if”. You need to know this if you want to
make sense of sentences like “An he were, I would burn my study”.
It’s
in black and white, which bothers some people, but seems absolutely appropriate
here. Color would be distracting. I suggest switching on subtitles, because
it’s tricky to catch all of Shakespeare’s language. But it’s easy to follow the
ridiculousness unfolding.
Recommended,
and highly recommended for those who already like Shakespeare.
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