Much Ado About Nothing.
After they’d finished principal photography on Avengers Assemble, its director Joss Whedon was told that he was contractually obliged to take a week off before they could begin editing it. This is what he did with his week off.
Avengers Assemble, which I reviewed earlier here, went on to become the biggest box office success ever. So it’s easy to understand the attraction of something like this for someone as creatively sophisticated as Whedon. Essentially, it’s the exact opposite.
Shot over 12 days with a bunch of friends on location at his house in the Hollywood hills, Much Ado About Nothing is as light and frothy as strawberry frappé. In other words, it’s the sort of thing that so many people get horribly wrong.
Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd in Moonlighting.
Romantic comedies are just that, romances first, and comedies second. As such, they rise or fall on the chemistry between their leads. And Amy Acker and Alexis Denisof sparkle. Though the film is somewhat stolen from under their noses by the comic pairing of Nathan Fillion and Tom Lenk as the magnificently hapless cops. The former pair will be recognized (just about) by fans of Angel, and the latter from the outrageously overlooked Serenity.
Perhaps not quite up there with Smiles Of A Summer Night, or that justly famous episode of Moonlighting, it’s a wonderfully deft adaptation of one of Shakespeare’s trickier comedies. And it’s only when you think of the many, many dreadful attempts at romantic comedy that you can luxuriate in its casual charm. You can see Much Ado About Nothing’s trailer here.
Sign up right or below for a subscription and I shall keep you posted every week with All the Very Best and Worst in Film, Television and Music!