Much Ado About Nothing

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Much Ado About Nothing

PG-13

Released Jun 21, 2013

1h 49m

Romance

Comedy

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86%

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176 Reviews

77%

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25,000+ Ratings

After a successful campaign against his rebellious brother, Don John (Sean Maher), Don Pedro (Reed Diamond) visits the governor of Messina. With him are Benedick (Alexis Denisof) and Claudio (Fran Kranz). While there, Claudio falls for the governor's daughter, Hero (Jillian Morgese), while Benedick engages in a war of words with Beatrice (Amy Acker), the governor's niece. While Don Pedro tries to trick Benedick and Beatrice into falling in love, Don John tries to tear Claudio and Hero apart.

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Critics Consensus

Lighthearted to a fault, Much Ado About Nothing's giddy energy and intimate charm make for an entertaining romantic comedy -- and a Shakespearean adaptation that's hard to resist.

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Sophie Mayer

Sight & Sound

DP Jay Hunter's camera floats like a butterfly through doorways and windows, stinging as it catches characters in moments of eavesdropping-inspired stunned epiphany.

Apr 4, 2018

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Larushka Ivan-Zadeh

metro.co.uk

Fizzing with giddy energy, this is the freshest, finest Shakespeare movie version of the 21st century.

Rated: 4/5

Sep 5, 2017

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Jason Bailey

Flavorwire

Loose, enjoyable, and sparkling, it's a movie that lives for the sound of clinking wine glasses and snappy patter.

Jun 21, 2016

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Keith Garlington

Keith & the Movies

Its playful and energetic melodrama is a blast.

Rated: 4.5/5

Aug 24, 2022

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Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

To keep Shakespeare timely is the task sought after by every new adaptation, and Much Ado About Nothing belongs on a short list of films to celebrate the relevance of Shakespeare in cinema.

Rated: 4/4

Aug 22, 2022

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David Walsh

World Socialist Web Site

Four hundred years later, the playwright's powerful, beautiful, utterly sincere thoughts and emotions continue to affect us.

Feb 12, 2021

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Hannah S

not a single person in this film knows what meter is or who shakespeare is. awful.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

09/28/23

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Audience Member

This was the worst movie I had ever seen for years. Until an extremely low budget movie called Powerbomb starring an independent pro wrestler came out and I watched that. It finally beat this out after decades, but this still remains by far #2 closely behind. It's atrociously boring and the way the people talk made me want to plug my ears. TERRIBLE movie.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

01/25/23

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Audience Member

Funny, intelligent and sensitive view on accepting goodbyes.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/11/23

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Audience Member

To be honest I found the world building of this version of Much Ado to be lacking. Wheaton establishes a very modern world in which Beatrice has a sexual encounter/relationship with Benedict that they did not hide and her family seems to know about. Yet Beatrice is still very much a part of a loving family. Wheaton does nothing to establish this is a world where purity in woman is manically prized over all else, women's sexuality may be actually satanic and dueling is a viable way to solve problems. Without these cultural assumptions baked into the world of Much Ado, no ones reactions to Hero's supposed infidelity make any sense at all. Not that a father wouldn't be upset at a daughter being unfaithful one night before her wedding but "I disown you! Go die!" is really out of proportion with everything he established about the world. To say nothing of the fact that Beatrice comes off as a total psycho when she demands Benedict kill Claudio to restore Hero's honor. After just having confessed her love for the man (one of the movies stronger moments, in my estimation) she goes absolutely dead-eyed and cold as ice and says "kill your best friend and comrade in arms," and doesn't even seem to care about the damage this could do to the man she just a second ago claimed to love. Beatrice's demands only make sense in a world with far more old fashioned standards and mores. Also this shouldn't be such an easy ask for Beatrice to make. Her heart should rip in two at this choice between Benedict's well-being and her cousin's life and honor. Something to keep in mind when staging a Much Ado. They work better when you keep in mind that Beatrice is a sane woman in an insane world.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

02/09/23

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andy h

To be continued, but the modern take doesn't make the play more engaging despite and because of the kept dialogue.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Audience Member

This movieth is the horror. I wast did force to watcheth this and anon I speaketh like this.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/25/23

Full Review

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Joss Whedon

Director

Amy Acker

Beatrice

Alexis Denisof

Benedick

Nathan Fillion

Dogberry

Fran Kranz

Claudio

Jillian Morgese

Hero

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Synopsis

After a successful campaign against his rebellious brother, Don John (Sean Maher), Don Pedro (Reed Diamond) visits the governor of Messina. With him are Benedick (Alexis Denisof) and Claudio (Fran Kranz). While there, Claudio falls for the governor's daughter, Hero (Jillian Morgese), while Benedick engages in a war of words with Beatrice (Amy Acker), the governor's niece. While Don Pedro tries to trick Benedick and Beatrice into falling in love, Don John tries to tear Claudio and Hero apart.

Director: Joss Whedon
Producer: Joss Whedon
Screenwriter: Joss Whedon
Distributor: Lionsgate Films, Roadside Attractions
Production Co: Bellwether Pictures
Rating: PG-13 (Some Sexuality|Brief Drug Use)
Genre: Romance, Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 21, 2013, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 2, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA): $4.3M
Runtime: 1h 49m

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