Much Ado About Nothing

The Actors

Benedick [Kenneth Branagh]

Let's get one thing clear from the start. In my opinion Kenneth Branagh is a genius! (Want to disagree with me? Well that's what the forum messageboard is for <g>). When he plays Benedick in "Much Ado About Nothing", I forget that he is speaking Shakespeare. This isn't the stilted "hammy" renditions that make audiences groan, instead he makes every phrase sound natural and not out of place in modern conversation.

Branagh, as Benedick, manages to convey every emotion. The shock of overhearing about Beatrice's "love" for him. (Isn't all the stuff with the deckchair hilarious?) His sheer joy at being "horribly in love with her". Acting all coy when he then meets Beatrice at the fountain.

When Benedick finally declares his love - "I do love nothing in the world so well as you" - I swoon. Then continue to do so when he is all serious intent agreeing to challenge Claudio on Beatrice's behalf. (I'm sure the colour of his uniform collar was chosen to match his eyes <G>)

Beatrice [Emma Thompson]

You'll probably all rush to the forum messageboard to disagree with me, but I wasn't as enamoured with Emma's performance. I don't know, some of the time she just doesn't seem as comfortable with Shakespeare as Ken is. She was stilted compared to Ken. The way she spoke them, her lines sounded more "traditional" Shakespeare. While he sounded natural. However she does bring a joy and a vitality to her role, and that (at the time) real-life chemistry between the leads was very apparent.

Don Pedro [Denzel Washington]

Some years back Denzel was labelled with the "sexiest man alive" tag, and 'Much Ado About Nothing' is one of the films where he really gets to live up to that. No, I don't just mean because of the leather trousers! ;-) The scene where he asks Beatrice "Will you have me, lady?" just makes my heart flip. He looks so hurt when she refuses.

Don John [Keanu Reeves]

If I'd written this after my first few viewings of the movie I'd be saying why Keanu is the weak link in 'Much Ado About Nothing'. However later viewings changed my mind. Okay that "massage" scene left a lot to be desired but I think he coped rather well with some of the other ones. He really did manage to convey Don John's satisfaction at outwitting Claudio and Don Pedro. He just looks so pleased with himself at the non-wedding, while still giving the correct outward signs of disgust & dismay. There's only one look that plain didn't work - when he tries to look disdainful after his capture he just looks plain silly, in my opinion.

[Michael Keaton, Robert Sean Leonard, Kate Beckinsale and others]

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