Are you looking for a film that will force you to continue watching while never taking your eyes off of the screen? Kenneth Branagh’s modern-day version of Much Ado About Nothing, in 1993, was really one to catch your eye. The actors were so dramatic as each scene went by; Richard Briers played as Leonato, Kate Beckinsale played the role of Hero, Denzel Washington starred as Don Pedro and Emma Thompson played as Beatrice. As these stars play in movies that have recently came out, such as Safe House and Flight starring Denzel Washington, this gave me the overall feeling of a modern-day film. Seeing familiar faces made it necessary for me to connect to their roles as I could compare to the others movies they are in. Branagh’s ability to adapt Shakespeare’s play into modern-day film was one of a kind and really caught my attention as he made it possible for me to understand Shakespeare’s true meaning of the original film.

Kenneth Branagh’s chose the actors and actresses really well, as each of them suited the cast very well. Robert Sean Leonard played as Claudio very well, in my opinion. He has starred in various movies in his lifetime and I always seem to favor him in each. He was the one that was supposed to wed Hero, played by Kate Beckinsale. The night before Hero and Claudio’s wedding, Hero was wrongly accused of being unfaithful with the villain, Don John. Instead of Claudio confronting her the moment he found out, he waited until he was asked if he would take her hand in marriage, if you will. He then continued on by saying "O, what men dare do! What men may do! What men daily do, not knowing what they do!" At this point everyone is extremely confused and taken back. The scene leads to a very dramatic one and Claudio then shoves Hero and as she falls to the ground he yells at her, telling everyone the accusations. Not only was Claudio talking down to her, but her Father was as well. She was so oblivious as to what was going on, she became very emotional. This is why I would say that Kate Beckinsale did a great job because in the scene she was very dramatic. She acted as if this situation was real life for her, as she wept and was shoved to the ground.

As the characters helped me to better understand the film due to their well-played roles, the language that Branagh used helped as well. Turning Shakespeare’s original version and turning it into a romantic comedy worked really well. This 1993 version was well done and at times, I was laughing hysterically. It was nice to see a Shakespeare film redone into one that isn’t so intense and dreadful, for example Henry V. It was a relief to be able to watch a film and actually enjoy it. A scene that really stuck out to me and made me laugh was when Beatrice entered the scene as Benedick was standing in the garden talking to himself. She told him, “Against my will I am sent to bid you come in to dinner.” As Benedick replies, “Fair Beatrice, I thank you for your pains.” As she then replies with, “I took no more pains for those thanks than you take pains to thank me: if it had been painful, I would not have come.” I found this scene to be really funny because throughout the film, I could tell that they had feelings for each other. For them to act like they are two ten years old chasing each other at recess made me chuckle a little. They seemed as if they were in a way,