Much Ado about Nothing [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]
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Much Ado About Nothing
Plot
Actor Kenneth Branagh made his directorial debut with a rousing screen adaptation of William Shakespeare's Henry V. Four years later, he returns to the bard's work with this lively version of one of Shakespeare's best comedies. Don Pedro (Denzel Washington), the Prince of Aragon, returns victorious from battle to the praises of the Governor of Messina, Leonato (Richard Briers). One of Don Pedro's bravest men, Claudio (Robert Sean Leonard), falls in love with Hero (Kate Beckinsale), Leonato's daughter, and they plan to marry. However, Don Pedro's devious half-brother Don John (Keanu Reeves) opposes the match, and he devises a plan to turn Hero against Claudio. Meanwhile, Benedict (Branagh), Don Pedro's second-in-command, detests Leonato's niece Beatrice (Emma Thompson), but Don Pedro cleverly brings them together by making each think that the other is secretly in love with them. Much Ado About Nothing also features Michael Keaton in a showy turn as Dogberry. ~ Mark Deming, RoviReview
A slightly streamlined but mostly charming adaptation of Shakespeare's romantic comedy, transplanted to a sunny Tuscan villa, featuring an all-star cast. Reinterpreted by writer-director-star Kenneth Branagh, the story is wonderfully updated to include color-blind casting (Denzel Washington and Keanu Reeves play brothers) and real-life pairings (Branagh and co-star Emma Thompson were married at the time) that actually work in service of the film instead of drawing attention away from it. Comprised of the director's earmark attention to detail and flights of fancy, the film found a significant audience and paved the way for more screen adaptations of Shakespeare's comedies by other filmmakers. This effort continued Branagh's fascination with the Bard on celluloid, after his extraordinary filmization of Henry V in 1989, and proved that he could switch gears from heavy drama to light comedy with the surest of hands. ~ Jason Clark, RoviCast
- Kenneth Branagh - Benedick
- Michael Keaton - Dogberry
- Robert Sean Leonard - Claudio
- Keanu Reeves - Don John
- Emma Thompson - Beatrice
Credit
Martin Childs - Art Director, Phyllis Dalton - Costume Designer, L. Justin Muller - First Assistant Director, Christopher Newman - First Assistant Director, Kenneth Branagh - Director, Andrew Marcus - Editor, Patrick Doyle - Composer (Music Score), Paul Engelen - Makeup, Tim Harvey - Production Designer, Roger Lanser - Cinematographer, Kenneth Branagh - Producer, David Parfitt - Producer, Stephen Evans - Producer, Kenneth Branagh - Screenwriter, William Shakespeare - Play Author| Much Ado About Nothing (1974 Film), Much Ado About Nothing (1967 Film) | |
| Much Ado About Nothing (2012 Film), Much Ado About Nutting (1953 Film) |
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Much Ado about Nothing [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]
- Artist: Patrick Doyle
- Rating:
- Release Date: 1993
- Total Time: 58:48
- Type: Soundtrack
- Genre: Soundtrack
Review
Melodramatic ham that he is, Kenneth Branagh seldom lets a minute go by in his screen adaptations of Shakespeare without some kind of musical accompaniment. Patrick Doyle is a shameless enabler for Branagh's music addiction, dealing out 24 tracks worth of sticky sweet orchestrations to satisfy the director's jones. Much Ado About Nothing was Branagh's second Shakespeare film, and at the time of its release his ebullient directorial style seemed radiant and charming. The film was widely regarded as a magnificently robust Hollywood popularization of one of the Bard's cheekiest comedies. But Branagh's unwinking earnestness began to wear thin in later efforts like Hamlet and Love's Labours Lost, making Much Ado seem somewhat light weight in retrospect. Doyle's contribution is nevertheless suitably sweeping and frothy, even if it does borrow rather too liberally from his previous (and superior) compositions for Henry V. As usual, Doyle's greatest work comes in classical vocal tracks like the dirge-like choral passage "Pardon Goddess of the Night" and the winsome musical setting for Shakespeare's poem "Sigh No More Ladies," which receives a beautiful reading in the opening credits by the incomparable Emma Thompson. These help to compensate for the egregiously swollen romantic pieces that underscore ridiculous shots of a lovestruck Branagh splashing around in Venetian fountains. ~ Evan Cater, Rovi| Much Ado About (2012 Album by Magic Bullets) | |
| Much Ado about Nothing: Music by Peter Link (2006 Album by Peter Link) |
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