Much Ado About Nothing (1993 film)



Much Ado About Nothing is a 1993 British/American romantic comedy film based on William Shakespeare's play of the same name. It was adapted for the screen and directed by Kenneth Branagh, who also stars in the film. The film also stars Branagh's then-wife Emma Thompson, Robert Sean Leonard, Denzel Washington, Michael Keaton, Keanu Reeves, and Kate Beckinsale in her film debut.

The film was released on May 7, 1993, reaching 200 U.S. screens at its widest release. It earned $22 million at the U.S. box office and $36 million total worldwide, which, despite failing to reach the mark set by Franco Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet, made it one of the most financially successful Shakespeare films ever released. It was also entered into the 1993 Cannes Film Festival.

Plot
Having just crushed an uprising by his half-brother, Don John (Keanu Reeves), Don Pedro of Aragon (Denzel Washington) and his noblemen visit their friend Leonato (Richard Briers) in Messina. Accompanying Don Pedro is the witty Benedick (Kenneth Branagh), former lover of Leonato's equally sharp-tongued niece, Beatrice (Emma Thompson). Also present are Benedick's friend Claudio (Robert Sean Leonard), a young count; and Don John who, despite his rebellion, has apparently reconciled with his brother. Claudio has been thinking of Leonato's beautiful daughter Hero (Kate Beckinsale) since before he went to war, and returns to find her as attractive as ever. Don Pedro, learning of his friend's feelings, decides to act on his behalf and arranges the match at a party. An unrepentant Don John attempts to foil it, but unsuccessfully – the match is made. Needing something to pass the time until the wedding, Don Pedro decides to arrange a similar fate for Beatrice and Benedick, whose animosity for each other is clear.

Don Pedro, Leonato, and Claudio stage a conversation containing a false account of how much Beatrice loves Benedick, all the while knowing Benedick to be hiding within earshot. Hero and her gentlewoman Ursula play the same trick upon Beatrice. Each of them believes the story they hear about the other. In the midst of all of this good-natured scheming, Don John has been searching for ways to stop the marriage between Claudio and Hero. The night before the wedding, Don John's servant Borachio arranges a steamy liaison with Hero's gentlewoman Margaret at Hero's chamber window. Don John shows Don Pedro and Claudio this, and they believe that they are seeing Hero in the act of infidelity.

Against the revelry of the evening, the noble but incompetent constable Dogberry (Michael Keaton) appoints a watch to keep the peace. The three hapless watchmen happen to hear Borachio bragging to his colleague Conrade about how he and Don John had succeeded in stopping the wedding. The watchmen apprehend Borachio and Conrade, and, in the morning, Dogberry attempts to have Leonato interrogate the prisoners. However, a hurried Leonato is unable to decipher what the bumbling Dogberry is trying to tell him. Amidst the confusion, Don John quietly flees.

At the wedding, Claudio publicly disgraces his would-be bride and storms away, along with most of the guests, except for Ursula, the Friar, Leonato, Beatrice, Antonio, and Benedick. They all agree to the Friar's plan to publish the tale that Hero, upon the grief of Claudio's accusations, suddenly died. Beatrice and Benedick linger a moment and eventually confess their love to one another. In the wake of this declaration, Beatrice asks Benedick to do the one thing that will satisfy her outrage with what has just happened – kill Claudio. With a heavy heart, he agrees to challenge his friend. Meanwhile, Borachio and Conrade are interrogated by Dogberry and his men. Despite Dogberry's incompetence, the truth of Don John's sinister machinations is revealed.

Moments after Benedick's challenge to Claudio, Leonato is made aware of what really happened. Leonato continues to pretend to Claudio that Hero is dead. Claudio entreats Leonato to impose whatever vengeance he sees fit for Claudio's part in Hero's disgrace and death. Leonato forgives Claudio on the condition that he publicly declare his wrongdoing and then marry Hero's cousin the next morning. Claudio agrees, and carries out the former by reciting an epitaph at Hero's tomb that night.

When the bride is brought forth the next day, she is revealed to be none other than Hero herself. She and Claudio profess their true, undying love for each other, as do Beatrice and Benedick, who agree to marry. Benedick renounces his challenge against Claudio and embraces him. Moments later, Don John is marched in, having been captured before he could escape. Those gathered begin to dance, with the two happy couples at the middle. Don Pedro remains behind, still single, but happy for his friends.

Cast and characters

 * Kenneth Branagh as Benedick, a nobleman in the court of Don Pedro. He is very self-righteous but shows himself to have good judgement during the "wedding" scene, as he is the only man from Don Pedro's entourage who implicitly believes Hero. His arrogance and selfishness make his relationship with Beatrice an argumentative one, but at the end of the film, Beatrice and Benedick agree to marry.
 * Emma Thompson as Beatrice, Leonato's niece, and Hero's cousin and chamber-mate. She is a strong-willed woman who charms and beguiles all who know her with her wit and cleverness. She confesses her love for Benedick and agrees to marry him.
 * Robert Sean Leonard as Count Claudio, a close friend of Don Pedro and Benedick, and fiancé to Hero, with whom he has been in love since before the men went to war against Don John. He does not believe Hero when she protests her innocence, and humiliates her by publicly casting her off during their wedding ceremony. When Borachio finally confesses and Hero's innocence becomes clear, Claudio is devastated over his part in her "death" (as Hero's father leads him to believe).  He agrees to marry Hero's cousin at Leonato's request, and is reunited with his love when it is revealed that "sweet Hero" is still alive and now his bride in truth.
 * Kate Beckinsale as Hero, the sweet, innocent only child of Governor Leonato, in love with Claudio. She is falsely accused of being unfaithful to Claudio on the night before her wedding. At the end of the film, Don John's plot against her and Claudio is revealed and they are happily married as was planned in the beginning.
 * Denzel Washington as Don Pedro, Prince of Aragon; remarkable for being one of the few "marriageable" men in the piece who does not get married by the end of the play, though he does play matchmaker for others. In the second act, when he and Beatrice are alone, he quietly asks her, "will you have me, lady?", revealing his true feelings for her. Beatrice gently rebuffs his proposal, and the two remain friends. He believes, with Claudio, in Hero's alleged infidelity, but is likewise earnestly sorry when he learns the truth.
 * Keanu Reeves as Don John, Don Pedro's evil half-brother. After leading a failed rebellion against Don Pedro, he conspires with his men Borachio and Conrade to ruin Hero and Claudio's wedding by impugning Hero's honor. When his plot is found out, he attempts to escape but is captured and imprisoned.
 * Richard Briers as Leonato, Governor of Messina and the father of Hero. He loves his daughter immensely but upon hearing the false news that she was being unfaithful to Claudio, he wishes she had never been born if that would mean that he would be spared the pain of her disgrace. He eventually listens to the Friar's counsel and becomes party to the pretence that Hero has died in order to test Claudio's remorse over his humiliation of Hero, before finally reuniting the two young lovers in the last act.
 * Michael Keaton as Dogberry, the local constable. He is not half so clever as he thinks he is and has a bad habit for malapropisms. He solves crimes and misdeeds accidentally. He and his men accidentally catch Borachio boasting about his involvement with separating Claudio and Hero. His men arrest Borachio and his conspiring friends. He ultimately saves the day by forcing Borachio to confess his part in Don John's plot to Leonato.
 * Gerard Horan as Borachio, Don John's drunken henchmen. He assists Don John in ruining Claudio's and Hero's wedding by making Hero appear unfaithful and initially succeeds, but is caught boasting about his crime by Dogberry's men and forced to confess.
 * Imelda Staunton as Margaret, Hero's rather worldly waiting gentlewoman who is tricked by Borachio, and mistaken for Hero by Don Pedro and Claudio.
 * Brian Blessed as Antonio, the brother of Leonato. He is very kind-hearted, but is incredibly furious by the accusations leveled against his niece.
 * Ben Elton as Verges, the local headborough and Dogberry's partner.
 * Jimmy Yuill as Friar Francis, the priest at Claudio and Hero's wedding who later defends Hero from the accusations made against her.
 * Richard Clifford as Conrade, a henchman of Don John.
 * Phyllida Law as Ursula, Hero's other waiting gentlewoman.
 * Patrick Doyle as Balthazar, Don Pedro's musician.

Soundtrack
The music to Much Ado About Nothing was composed by frequent Kenneth Branagh collaborator Patrick Doyle, who makes a brief cameo in the film as Balthazar singing Sigh No More Ladies and Pardon, Goddess of the Night. The soundtrack was released May 4, 1993 through Epic Soundtrax and features twenty-four tracks of score at a running time just under an hour.


 * 1) "The Picnic" (2:57)
 * 2) "Overture" (4:20)
 * 3) "The Sweetest Lady" (2:05)
 * 4) "The Conspirators" (2:39)
 * 5) "The Masked Ball" (1:55)
 * 6) "The Prince Woos Hero" (1:18)
 * 7) "A Star Danced" (2:43)
 * 8) "Rich She Shall Be" (1:42)
 * 9) "Sigh No More Ladies" (1:58)
 * 10) "The Gulling of Benedick" (3:12)
 * 11) "It Must Be Requited" (1:58)
 * 12) "The Gulling of Beatrice" (1:41)
 * 13) "Contempt Farewell" (1:32)
 * 14) "The Lady is Disloyal" (2:14)
 * 15) "Hero's Wedding" (0:47)
 * 16) "Take Her Back Again" (3:10)
 * 17) "Die to Live" (4:43)
 * 18) "You Have Killed a Sweet Lady" (3:03)
 * 19) "Choose Your Revenge" (1:48)
 * 20) "Pardon, Goddess of the Night" (4:32)
 * 21) "Did I Not Tell You" (1:40)
 * 22) "Hero Revealed" (1:26)
 * 23) "Benedick the Married Man" (2:06)
 * 24) "Strike Up Pipers" (2:41)

Reception
Much Ado About Nothing received general acclaim from critics. The film currently holds a 91% "Certified Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, a website that aggregates professional critiques, with the consensus "Kenneth Branagh's love for the material is contagious in this exuberant adaptation."

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave it three out of four stars, calling it "cheerful from beginning to end." Vincent Canby of The New York Times also wrote the film a positive review, praising Branagh's direction and calling it "ravishing entertainment." Desson Thomson of The Washington Post praised Branagh's cuts to the text as giving "wonderful import to this silliness from long ago" and stated that "Kenneth Branagh has, once again, blown away the forbidding academic dust and found a funny retro-essence for the '90s." Online critic James Berardinelli gave the film a glowing four-star review, calling it a "gem of a movie", especially praising the accessibility of the humor, the performances, and Branagh's lively direction, of which he wrote, "This film cements Branagh's status as a great director of Shakespeare, and perhaps of film in general, as well."

Conversely, Peter Travers of Rolling Stone wrote the film a negative review, praising some moments as "invigorating fun", but ultimately calling it "overripe." Most of the negative criticisms focused on particular casting choices, notably Keanu Reeves as Don John, and Michael Keaton as Dogberry. For his performance in the film, Reeves was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actor, where he lost to Woody Harrelson for Indecent Proposal.

Much Ado About Nothing was ranked #11 on Rotten Tomatoes list of Greatest Shakespeare Movies.

Accolades
The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:
 * 2005: AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores – Nominated