Much Ado About Nothing_Paul Ahn
The casting of this movie really surprised me. The combination of actors in this movie was something I really did not expect. Robert sean Leonard, Denzel Washington, and Keanu Reeves? If not odd before I saw this movie I didn’t even know they did a piece together. I’ve also never seen Kate Beckinsale in such young age. It really makes you realize actors have wide range of roles and a long list of history in their careers. Each piece would be another piece that would shape their acting. It was also funny to see that even though the setting of this movie and the background of each character is based on the Shakespearean time their usual mannerism that makes them unique still seeps out. Their dialogues are worded in old english and yet when Denzel Washington say “In her bosom I clasp my heart” he still has that Denzel Washington’s aloof “bad-assery”. Michale Keaton’s role as a watchman really reminded me of Beetle Juice and surprisingly birdman as well. His jolly but serious way of speaking and his way of staring at the other character as if he or she has something drawn on their face that can be seen throughout his filmography is seen here as well. Again no matter the role some traits of each character seeps out of their character. Keanu Reeves brooding chaos wrecking Don John again goes against a lot of the pre-concepts I had about Keanu Reeves and his acting. It was fun to see how the actor as progressed very far. In my opinion the two who were able to integrate the old english successfully into the film’s dialogues were Emma Thompson and Kenneth Branagh both who I’ve only seen in movies that are based on contemporary settings. It would seem though the language they use seems made for stage. It might be because I’m only used to seeing these kind of language in old literatures but something about old english seems as if they are monologues no matter what they are saying. Something about the language makes each dialogue seem very introspective and self-asking.
As for the plot tragic deaths and plot twist seems to be a favorable formula for theater no matter what century the writer was living in. Like Romeo and Juliet there is a fake death in order to correct a wrong doing but unlike Romeo and Juliet, “Much Ado About Nothing” ends in happiness. In reality if one looks at the plot of the story without the complicating intertwining character relationships, the main event of the movie kinda seems petty. Its again simply a grudge against people that causes problem and it is simply misunderstandings that leads to an action faking death. In Shakespeare’s works we can see that a lot of the drama in real life is petty an begrudging, in some sense, not really a big deal. However, the normal daily dramas of our life is also something that attracts our attention and what makes a story great. A story doesn’t have to have something supernatural or grand to be great. Don Jon is one of those brooding or grumpy cousin in the family that causes problem dampening the mood of a family get together.