Much Ado About Nothing is a lovely, funny, very Whedonesque Shakespeare movie

We don’t see a lot of Shakespeare these days, except in the derivative storytelling sense, of course. Yes, there was the terrible 2011 movie Anonymous that claimed ol’ Willie didn’t write a bit of it, and the barely seen 2012’s Coriolanus and this year’s Warm Bodies, which was very loosely based on Romeo and Juliet. But every year there’s usually at least one, even if they aren’t widely seen. Impressive stuff for an author that hasn’t written anything new in 400 years. I suppose those themes and characters are still resonating with people even today, despite the language barrier we all faced reading those book in high school. By my troth, there’s an awful lot of antiquated colloquialisms in those plays. But the words are one thing; not everyone can pull off a Shakespearean monologue believably. On the other hand, some people totally can.

Much Ado About Nothing is an adaptation of the play by the same name from Shakespeare, this time by not terrible director Joss Whedon. I hadn’t read the play or seen the Kenneth Branagh version (I think that guy has adapted more Shakespeare plays than were actually written), so my perspective is one familiar with the parlance of the day, but not the precise material. So at first I was lost, confused by who was whom and what was going on. But that soon changed. It’s all vaguely in a modern day, although considering that no words are changed, it does seem a bit anachronistic, probably by design. And boy, this movie is filled with Joss Whedon regulars and favorites. We begin in Messina with Beatrice (Amy Acker from Whedon’s The Cabin in the Woods, Dollhouse, and Angel), niece to Leonato, the governor of Messina (Clark Gregg from The Avengers), which I guess is where they’re supposed to be, alongside cousin Hero (newcomer Jillian Morgese who just had an uncredited role in The Avengers that led to this casting). Hero is a girl, by the way, which is obvious when you watch the movie but perhaps not from the name. All are in a kerfuffle because of the impending arrival of Don Pedro (Reed Diamond from Dollhouse), prince of Aragon, with his entourage a-coming. Among these are two important people, Benedick (Alexis Denisof from — deep breath – Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Dollhouse, and a hidden role in The Avengers), who has a longstanding war of words with Beatrice, and Claudio (Fran Kranz from Dollhouse and The Cabin in the Woods), who immediately falls in love with Hero. Yes, a bit cliched, but that’s par for the course for these sorts of stories.

Of course, a series of comic misunderstandings and tragedies follow quickly, as might be expected. But come on, with bumbling constable Dogberry (Nathan Fillion from Buffy, Firefly, and Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog) on the case, how won’t they discover the evil machinations of Don Pedro’s evil brother Don John (Sean Maher from Firefly)? It’s one of Shakepeare’s comedies, which usually means nobody dies and everyone gets married (as opposed to tragedies, where everybody dies). Whether or not that happens this time I won’t spoil, although the story has actually been spoiled for about 400 years. Obviously the writing is good here, so the question becomes simple: How well was it pulled off? The movie does look good, shot in black and white and claustrophobically filmed inside an LA house (I wonder whose house it was? Spoiler: It was Joss Whedon’s). The acting is certainly excellent across the board, but some people manage it a bit better than others. Reed Diamond is a bit stiff at times and Alexis Denisof’s line readings are occasionally a tad stilted. But he has amazing chemistry with Amy Acker, who is just fantastic, subtle, hilarious, and emotional at precisely the right moments. For the other couple, both are superb; Jillian Morgese makes wonders of the simplistic maiden and Fran Kranz is affecting and heart-pulling as the noble youth who believes in true love. Of course, I can’t forget Nathan Fillion, who is quite amusing indeed.

Gee, what a surprise. Above all, these people are having boatloads of fun here, and there’s no question how much Whedon adores the material and the cast in equal measures. Everyone gets their moment to shine, and although it takes a bit of time to get into, and the story itself seems a bit dated at times (can’t be helped), there’s no question that this is just a fun, classy movie that’ll make you feel great afterwards. By my troth, I am off!