'Much Ado' is a legitimately entertaining Shakespeare adaptation
Much ado is being made over the fact that Joss Whedon directed his modern-dress Shakespeare adaptation 鈥淢uch Ado About Nothing鈥� while taking a 12-day break from postproduction on 鈥�The Avengers.鈥� But why should this be so surprising? As superhero franchise palate cleansers go, you can鈥檛 do much better than the Bard. Besides, there鈥檚 plenty of avenging going on in 鈥淢uch Ado,鈥� minus the CGI, of course, and with a bit better dialogue.
I enjoyed Whedon鈥檚 film both as a species of stunt and also as a legitimately entertaining entry in the voluminous Shakespeare adaptation sweepstakes. It鈥檚 very different from Kenneth Branagh鈥檚 sun-splashed 1993 version, set in a villa in Tuscany and starring Branagh and his then-wife Emma Thompson as the contentious Benedick and Beatrice, who dislike each other so intensely that it鈥檚 obvious they will fall in love.
Whedon has mostly cast his movie with actors familiar from his movies and TV series, including Alexis Denisof (鈥�Buffy the Vampire Slayer鈥�) and Amy Acker (鈥�Angel鈥�) as Benedick and Beatrice, Fran Kranz (鈥淒ollhouse鈥�) and Jillian Morgese (a Whedon newcomer) as the dewy lovers Claudio and Hero, and Nathan Fillion (鈥淔irefly,鈥� 鈥淏uffy鈥�) and Tom Lenk (鈥淏uffy鈥�) as the bumbling constable Dogberry and his loyal sidekick Verges. John Ford had his stock company. Why not Whedon?
Shot in black and white in Whedon鈥檚 sprawling Spanish-style manse in Santa Monica, Calif., the film seems, quite literally, homey. (To make matters even homier, the house was designed by Kai Cole, Whedon鈥檚 wife and one of the film鈥檚 producers.) The black-and-whiteness allows us to focus on the characters and the language without the vibrant distractions of a color palette.
This is a mixed blessing. Olivier鈥檚 鈥淗amlet鈥� and 鈥淩ichard III鈥� this is not. The actors, while sportive and surprisingly adept at making iambic pentameter seem as form-fitting as plain old (olde?) American lingo, are not exactly going to be giving the Royal Shakespeare Company any sleepless nights. It鈥檚 beyond need of proof, of course, that American actors can perform Shakespeare on a level with the Brits. Still, there is nothing here that would have given, say, the Brando of 鈥淛ulius Caesar鈥� any sleepless nights, either.
But Whedon does respect the play, and its language. This is no small achievement. Too many Shakespeare redos are plagued by an overarching 鈥渃oncept鈥� that all too often wrecks whatever pleasures we might have taken from the play. Prime example: Baz Luhrmann鈥檚 鈥�Romeo + Juliet,鈥� which did to Shakespeare what his 鈥淭he Great Gatsby鈥� would do to F. Scott Fitzgerald. (Can no one keep this man away from the classics?)
Whedon was smart to choose 鈥淢uch Ado鈥� as his maiden Shakespearean voyage. With its merry wit, interlocking love stories, and broad slapstick, it offers up a template for his own sprightly gifts. Plus it has the advantage of essentially being set in a single locale 鈥� no raging heaths, no battles (except domestic ones).
This is one movie in which the actors look as if they鈥檙e having a good time and, for a change, we are, too. I imagine Shakespeare would have been pleased. Of course, if he were writing today, he鈥檇 no doubt be writing for the movies. He might have even taken up 鈥淭he Avengers II.鈥� Grade: B+ (Rated PG-13 for some sexuality and brief drug use.)
