Shakespeare is never going to be more accessible than this. Never. Even Romeo and Juliet can leave you wondering exactly what’s going on in places, but thanks to the Joss Whedon direction, Much Ado About Nothing will leave you in ado about nothing. Whedon strays not from the Bard’s original script, even though the film is entirely in black & white and set in our current century. I’m told it was also filmed entirely at Whedon’s house. Upon learning this fact, I half-expected to see Eliza Dushku behind a pane in the cellar with a sign reading “in case of underacting emergency, break glass.”
How hard do you think you have to look for Alexis Denisof at Joss Whedon’s house, anyway? I bet he’s there all the time – weekends/nights/hanging out by the pool just in case there’s a new TV show in the works.
Whedon, thinking out loud: “I’m going to remake Care Bears as an allegory of World War II”
Denisof (from behind the couch): “Brilliant. I’m there!”
Ah, yes, the movie. Much Ado About Nothing is a quiet film in classic comedy sense meaning “everybody should be happy by the end.” The story is about two couples: one in love so long as others don’t interfere (Fran Kranz and Jillian Morgese) and one who has to figure out 
their mutual revulsion actually masks a deep love (Denisof and Amy Acker). Awwww, ain’t that sweet? Whedon opens with a Bard improv– a wordless scene in which we see the last parting of Denisof and Acker; it sets up their mutual abhorrence quite well. The romances revolve around the machinations of a large weekend get-together. Considering the cast is replete with Whedon homies, one imagines this could be your average Joss summer house retreat party.
Joss Whedon has gone to great lengths to make this play understandable to the masses. There’s a fair amount of overacting and physical humor; Denisof’s calisthenics to attract Acker’s attention are pretty funny as is his Flying Wallenda routine to overhear a conversation. Nathan Fillion is hilarious as the chief idiot of the bumbling police force. You know where this film doesn’t work? In the original text. It’s not William Shakespeare’s fault that “Three’s Company” didn’t exist in his age. Or, heck, maybe it did … who am I to say? But, fact is, modern audiences are not overwhelmed by classic misunderstanding. It’s a bit tiresome, in fact. And Much Ado About Nothing is all about classic misunderstanding.
So what would you say to sell accessible Shakespeare to the masses? How would you advertise that one? How do you get the teens out? I think I just say, “look. It doesn’t get any more in your comfort zone than this without changing the language.” Even so – cheap romance, Shakespearean verbiage, black and white … I still don’t see you winning over the MTV crowd. But thanks for playin’.
Whedon tries his hand at the bard,
Culling possessions into his yard.
Acker, Denisof –, he has your backs
And there’s Clark Gregg, Fillion the cracks.
Rated PG-13, 109 Minutes
D: Joss Whedon
W: Joss Whedon
Genre: M.C. Shakespeare
Type of person most likely to enjoy this film: William Shakespeare
Type of person least likely to enjoy this film: People who need the language to match the environs.
