Much Ado About Nothing movie review (2013)
Whedon, beloved by television audiences for his cult favorites "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Firefly" (to mention just a few), is known for creating independent and memorable female characters, and in this, Shakespeare is a perfect fit for him as a director. Shakespeare created Rosalind in "As You Like It," Katherine in "Taming of the Shrew," Lady Macbeth in "Macbeth," Cleopatra in "Antony and Cleopatra" and a host of iconic others. Misogyny is alive and well in Shakespeare and takes on a particularly vicious aspect in "Much Ado About Nothing," when a woman's virginity is prized above her humanity, but Shakespeare, as usual, has his cake and eats it too. "Much Ado" strolls into some pretty dark forests, morally and spiritually, and while I'm not sure that Hero, the betrayed heroine, would agree with the title that it all had been "much ado about nothing," the crookedness of the universe is righted gloriously in the end.
The intrigues of Italian war and political life are merely backdrop in Shakespeare's comedy and it's backdrop here, too. The opening shows Don Pedro and Claudio (Reed Diamond and Fran Kranz, both excellent) returning from abroad, complete with security detail and a motorcade of gleaming cars. They bring with them Benedick (the marvelous Alexis Denisof), Don John (Sean Maher, who looks like Robert Chambers, the Preppy Murderer, a perfect choice considering Don John's malevolent character), and Don John's cunning sidekick Conrade (played, in Whedon's version, by a woman, Riki Lindhome). They stop off at the beautiful home of Leonato (Clark Gregg), to celebrate with relatives and friends, all of whom have nothing else to do besides hang out in the house, drink wine, gossip, and make mischief with one another's love lives. Claudio confesses to Don Pedro that he has fallen in instant-love with Leonato's beautiful young daughter Hero (Jillian Morgese). Don Pedro immediately begins scheming on a way to bring the romance to fruition. A masked ball thrown that night gives him the opportunity he is looking for.
Hero's cousin Beatrice (played by Amy Acker) tells anyone who will listen (and even those who tune her out) that love is not for her, and marriage is for the birds. She especially wants everyone to know that Benedick is a jerk, and he doesn't matter to her at all! Benedick returns her insults, to her face and behind her back. Of course if the two were as indifferent towards one another as they declared, then why do they keep talking incessantly about each other? Hero and her maids, along with the menfolk in the house, conspire to bring the arguing two together.
