"Romance. Mischief. Seduction. Revenge. Remarkable."
In this Shakespearean farce, Hero and her groom-to-be, Claudio, team up with Claudio's commanding officer, Don Pedro, the week before their wedding to hatch a matchmaking scheme. Their targets are sharp-witted duo Benedick and Beatrice -- a tough task indeed, considering their corresponding distaste for love and each other. Meanwhile, meddling Don John plots to ruin the wedding.
Emma Thompson
Beatrice
Kenneth Branagh
Benedick
Kate Beckinsale
Hero
Denzel Washington
Don Pedro
Michael Keaton
Dogberry
Keanu Reeves
Don John
Robert Sean Leonard
Claudio
Richard Briers
Signor Leonato
Imelda Staunton
Margaret
In this Shakespearean farce, Hero and her groom-to-be, Claudio, team up with Claudio's commanding officer, Don Pedro, the week before their wedding to hatch a matchmaking scheme. Their targets are sharp-witted duo Benedick and Beatrice -- a tough task indeed, considering their corresponding distaste for love and each other. Meanwhile, meddling Don John plots to ruin the wedding.
For Kenneth Branagh's 4th film he chose to return to The Bard that brought him here. He chose Shakespeare's farcical comedy **MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING**. I knew one thing going in... Shakespeare's comedies are rarely that funny. I knew something better coming out.. I could not have been more wrong. This film is not only funny and sexy, it is a treasure. This is the first Branagh film that he utilizes stunt casting - bringing in Hollywood talent into roles normally filled by Shakespearian actors. And while it isn't always perfect, there is no complaint. In fact Michael Keaton, Keanu Reeves and Denzel Washington shine some bright light toward the American talent pool. Of course, many of Kenneth's _'Shakespeare'_ friends are still along for the ride - Brian Blessed is amongst my favorites. Branagh's first major achievement with this film is on his screenplay treatment. Like his **HENRY V**, he has cut the screenplay down to a much more manageable Hollywood film length. It is taut and efficient. Nothing is missing for the casual Shakespeare fan. Of course the obsessed will find - or _won't_ find a lot of stuff. Branagh's second major achievement is shared by others in the cast, especially Emma Thompson. Their handle of the language and poetry of Shakespeare shifts what is often muddy and confusing dialogue to crystal clear and modern understanding. In fact you will find yourself smiling through most of their scenes together as they torture each other until their love takes over. In high school readings of any Shakespeare plays, students often get confused as to the social aspect of the stories... They would question why there is a party and why is everyone in the town celebrating it? Why do battles seem to be fought and won amongst only 10 soldiers? Why does it seem that marriages are performed on the same day that the couple first met? So many questions confuse students and the adults who grow from them. Branagh's most masterful achievement here is in answering these questions. During his **HENRY V**, Branagh used an incredibly impressive tracking shot through the death and destruction on the field of Agincourt. Just as impressive is the finale of **MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING**, including the audience in the celebration moving through the community and finally, up into the sky with a grand view of the love and excitement of all that are alive to experience it. It is obvious that Kenneth Branagh is a major fan of Shakespeare. I would venture to say that he is more than a fan, he is an artistic peer.
Shakespeare's comedy of gender confusion, in which a girl disguises herself as a man to be near the count she adores, only to be pursued by the woman he loves.
Dawn thinks she's joining a dating show in Paris, France, only to land in Paris, Texas. She has an exit plan — until sparks fly with the cowboy bachelor.
A father comes to grips with his daughter’s upcoming wedding through the prism of multiple relationships within a big, sprawling Cuban-American family.
A broadway playwright is burning the candle at both ends. He is dealing with pressure from a production nearing premiere, a wife who is leaving him, and 5 children 4 of which belong to her.
In this contemporary take on William Shakespeare's classic tragedy, the Montagues and Capulets have moved their ongoing feud to the sweltering suburb of Verona Beach, where Romeo and Juliet fall in love and secretly wed. Though the film is visually modern, the bard's dialogue remains.
A story of love and life among the landed English gentry during the Georgian era. Mr. Bennet is a gentleman living in Hertfordshire with his overbearing wife and five daughters, but if he dies their house will be inherited by a distant cousin whom they have never met, so the family's future happiness and security is dependent on the daughters making good marriages.
After the PTA of a conservative high school in Indiana bans same-sex couples from attending the annual prom, a gang of flamboyant Broadway stars try to boost their image by showing up to support two lesbian students.
Nicole and Chase live next door to each other but are worlds apart. However, they plot a scheme to date each other in order to attract the interest and jealousy of their respective romantic prey. But in the mist of planning a gala centennial celebration, Nicole and Chase find that the one they always wanted was closer than they ever thought.
A spark of attraction smolders, then ignites, between two teens from different high schools who meet by chance at a party.
Two romantic burnouts, Jane and Will, are immediately drawn to each other at a mutual friend’s wedding. After a disastrous hookup in the coatroom, the two spend the next 24 hours together, trading candid confessions of messy histories and heartbreak, on the off chance that this fling might be the real thing.