eotten2001 There are many good moments in this movie, which by the way I like. Alica Silverstone gives a very performance - even in many scenes suggesting real majesty, Kenneth B is also good as might be expected. Nathon Lane is wonderful - especially in the musical numbers, which should be no surprise! He even makes something out of nothing with the poorly written comedy routines.But the rest of cast for me was very uneven. I did like and I thought was brilliant the use of news reels to add an extra depth to the action. And they were well chosen to boot. also the songs were like the great hits of American song writing. I wish the performances were as good.They were not. especially 'On the Way you Look Tonight" And "I've got you under my skin.' But the goodbye scene when nothing is resolved with them singing "They Can't take that away from Me" were truly moving and sad. The war scenes in black & white wee excellent and the end when they reunited was truly moving - especially the headline "Victory!" For its faults this is a film well worth seeing. Just don't expect it to be a typical film.

Jackson Booth-Millard From actor/director Kenneth Branagh comes another William Shakespeare tale, just four years after his four hour version of Hamlet. The story is an update based in the 30s/40s where the King of Navarre (Jurassic Park III's Alessandro Nivola) and three companions, Longaville (a miscast Scream's Matthew Lillard), Dumaine (Adrian Lester) and Berowne (Branagh) swear an oath to stay away (and obviously not fall in love) with women for three years. Unfortunately this plan fails when they are immediately acquainted with The Princess of France (also miscast Alicia Silverstone) and her three chums, Rosaline (The Truman Show's Natascha McElhone), Maria (Carmen Ejogo) and Jacquanetta (Stefania Rocca). They form close friendships and almost bonds, and they have other people to talk to about their concerns, including an all-star cast: Emily Mortimer as Katherine, Richard Briers as Nathaniel, Nathan Lane as Costard and Timothy Spall as Don Armado. With some fantastic actors and memorable songs mixed in, this is a great almost modern adaption to a Shakespeare tale. Kenneth Branagh was number 25 on The 50 Greatest British Actors, and he was number 6 on Britain's Finest Actors. Good!

MoneyMagnet When I first heard Kenneth Branagh was going to make this play as a 30s musical, I was thrilled. As strange as it may sound, it's a terrific concept - the idea of Shakespeare's language and bursting into song not being mutually exclusive. And in fact, I was given the soundtrack (with dialog) of this movie before it came out, and it all seemed to work well and sound quite charming. Well, the music works, mostly. But it's about the only thing in the movie that does work.I like Branagh's work in general very much despite its rough edges, but this movie is an inexplicable failure -- not due to the concept or music or even the slightness of the play itself, but wholly due to Branagh's strangely uninspired direction. The indifferent acting from a few of the leads is forgivable; the bad singing even more so; although the bad dancing is sometimes quite hard to forgive. But what really kills this movie is that it seems to totally lack Branagh's usual gusto as a filmmaker. The concept may be audacious, but the staging is completely undercooked. Right from the opening credits, which are just weirdly static -- headshots against red satin?? -- where is the Ken Branagh who gave us those fantastic opening credit sequences from DEAD AGAIN and MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING?? (Another early warning signal of this movie's inertness is an early scene where a guy is riding a bicycle so slowly that it's a wonder he doesn't fall over.) The camera work is boring, the atmosphere of the settings extremely artificial and static, giving the whole movie a stilted, deadened air that doesn't remind one of a 30s screwball comedy so much as it reminds one of a... bad movie from any era. None of the actors (Branagh included) seem to know why they're there; nobody seems to be having any FUN (except maybe Adrian Lester). Plus, the movie looks as if it were made on a painfully low budget - it probably had a higher budget than actually seems to appear on the screen. Only rarely do we get the slightest glint of the old Ken Branagh - the beginning of the final musical number is very nice and has real feeling.This is probably the one movie I've seen where, when it was over, I desperately wished for a DO-OVER... although those don't happen in Hollywood and certainly not for quirky little Shakespeare movies. What a lovely and unusual concept for a Shakespeare movie, down the drain because of weirdly bad direction by a guy who, even if he's not Orson Welles, usually has a mastery of the basics. Come back to us, Ken...

jerichobrawler Boy, Kenneth Branagh will try anything, won't he? Even infusing Shakespeare's comedy with a string of Gershwin-era songs and dances. But while his Much Ado About Nothing was a frothy, wonderful gem, Love's Labour's Lost . . . just didn't quite work. It's a noble try, though.Whether the concept itself is flawed is up for debate. (Surely some Shakespeare purists were up in arms when this came out!) What cannot be argued, however, is that Branagh's cast is unable to pull this off. They simply are trying to hard at what should come naturally, and the audience can't help but notice. His direction also sinks the film at various points, and as a result, the film jerks from scene to scene, from song to song, ultimately culminating in a collection of bits that never gel into a unified whole.That's not to say that the movie doesn't have its strengths. There is a sense of fun that pervades the film which is quite pleasant. The costumes and art direction are appropriately light and beautiful, and some of the comedy moments are quite fun. Each actor also has his or her strength. Alessandro Nivola (Laurel Canyon, Mansfield Park) is the best singer, Adrian Lester (Primary Colors) the best dancer, Branagh the best actor, and Matthew Lillard (Scooby-Doo) . . . sure is tall. The supporting cast (Nathan Lane, Alicia Silverstone, Emily Mortimer, et. al.) each do their best to rise above the film's shortcomings, as well.Ultimately, the audience ends up really trying to like this movie, but the flaws are too great to dismiss. 6/10 stars.