As this film opens Leonato and his household await the arrival of Prince Don Pedro and his companions. These include Benedick, the former lover of Leonarto's niece, Beatrice and Count Claudio who is in love with Leonarto's daughter Hero but can't bring himself to tell her. In what follows Don Pedro helps Claudio woo Hero; the various characters try to bring Beatrice and Benedict back together despite the fact that they only bicker and exchange barbs when they talk. Once the two couples are brought together Claudio and Hero are engaged to be married; then the night before Don Pedro's dastardly half-brother, Don Jon, makes Claudio believe that Hero has been unfaithful… it would appear that their relationship is dead until her friends and family come up with a ploy to prove her innocence.Actor/Director Kenneth Brannagh has assembled a fine cast for his interpretation of Shakespeare's classic comedy; there are big Hollywood names like Denzel Washington, Keanu Reaves and Michael Keaton and familiar British actors such as Emma Thompson, Richard Briars, Kate Beckinsale and Brian Blessed to name but a few… all are on good form and bring the Shakespearian dialogue to life in a way that makes it easy for modern audiences to understand, almost without thinking about it. There a plenty of genuinely funny moments showing that some jokes are timeless. I liked the look of the film with nineteenth century style costumes and setting in an Italian villa. Overall I'd definitely recommend this to fans of watching Shakespeare on the screen.

"Much Ado About Nothing" is one of the most notable comedies of Shakespeare's extensive work. His plot is well known, especially from English-speaking audiences (here, in Latin countries, the works of this notable English author have always been less popular), and revolves around an expertly forged slander that separates a couple. The film keeps the essential but it has an aura of lightness and idyll that is good to comedy. Jokes consist of word games with explicit sarcasm. I believe many of the original dialogues have been retained or slightly adapted, as they continue to sound like Shakespeare should sound.The cast has heavy names like Kate Beckinsale, Emma Thompson, Denzel Washington, Keanu Reeves, Robert Sean Leonard and Sir Kenneth Branagh (who also directs and adapts the script). Most of the cast was up to the challenge. Emma Thompson and Branagh deserve both congratulations, as they shone and distinguished themselves by the perfect interpretation of their characters. Denzel was also quite well as the prince, radiating leadership and presence. Personally, I don't appreciate Keanu Reeves, as I have always considered him to be a monotonous and unimpressive actor, but he was right here, in a restrained and sullen character, consistent with his abilities. Kate Beckinsale is a good actress, but the character they gave her doesn't give her more work than to smile and proclaim her love in every possible way. There are a few more underused actors in the cast, but the play does not stretch, does it? I also liked the filming locations, with a genuinely Italian flavor that agrees with everything that is said and done in the film (the play is set in the Sicilian city of Messina). Regarding the costumes and clothes used here, however, I have my doubts. They are fundamental for the temporal framing of the events, and truth is that if the film seems to reproduce the action according to the instructions of the play, and an effort has been made to set it in the correct geographical and cultural context, the temporal framework seems to have been neglected. I cannot say exactly in what historical time the film set the events, but one thing I'm sure: its not the period in which the play puts them. Military uniforms point to the mid-nineteenth century, but if one of the characters is a Prince of Aragon this framing does not make sense, since Aragon no longer existed in the nineteenth century. On the other hand, it's evident the absence of vintage underwear in women's costumes.Staging a Shakespearean text, on stage as on screen, is always a challenge for a director. They are heavy, difficult, detailed texts, with a legion of inveterate supporters who are ready to blindly attack whoever tries to pinch them. But the truth is that, today, cinema has become a kind of "people's theater", since theaters themselves are becoming more and more expensive, and dramatic art is becoming more and more elitist. So praise be Sir Kenneth Branagh for helping to keep Shakespeare accessible to the eyes of all people.

The film represented the play quite well because of how they spoke, what they wore and how they managed to include the soliloquies, if it didn't have the soliloquies it is even harder to understand. As much as I think the actors played their roles well and I think it was done well there are moments when it is hard to understand, but it may just be how they spoke back then is a difficult 'language' to understand.

Young lovers Hero (Kate Beckinsale) and Claudio, soon to wed, conspire to get verbal sparring partners and confirmed singles Benedick and Beatrice to wed as well.Kenneth Branagh has made a name for himself adapting Shakespeare (and other works of classic literature), but this may be his best. Unlike "Hamlet" or "Henry V", we finally get a nice comedy where the cast does not take themselves any more seriously than they need to. And we have an impressive cast: Denzel Washington (always a smart move), Keanu Reeves (a bold and unusual casting choice), Michael Keaton (coming off his Batman years).While "Much Ado About Nothing" is not one of those stories people know as well as the bigger plays, maybe they should... Shakespeare's comedies are far more entertaining than his tragedies and histories. See, for example, "10 Things I Hate About You".