Alicia Silverstone in Love's Labour's Lost (2000)

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Review

There’s no debating that writer/director/actor Kenneth Branagh is the current champion of cinematic Shakespeare. Branagh has adapted, directed and starred in four of the bard’s works previously (Twelfth Night, Much Ado about Nothing, Henry V, Hamlet), each time with resounding success. The other shoe was bound to drop eventually and with his fifth Shakespeare film, Love’s Labour’s Lost, that shoe hits the floor with an audible thud and it hits the floor often. While attempting to do something new with one of Shakespeare’s most mysterious plays, Branagh simply fell off the deep end. Not content with a simple adaptation or update of the play, he instead offers a musical. Never mind that most musicals made in recent history have a knack for being awkward and unsuccessful. While it’s pretty tough to knock Branagh’s vision and devotion to his passions, his latest movie is simply a silly little mess.

As in Shakespeare’s work, the story here revolves around the King of Navarre and his three friends: Berowne, Dumaine and Longeville. This quartet devise a plan to devote their lives to pious and sincere study for the straight years, fasting once a week and sleeping only three hours a night. Most importantly, their self-imposed studies will forbid them to come into contact with women…at all. Of course it’s not long before the Princess of France comes to visit, complete with three lovely friends, which leads to all of the romantic entanglements that Shakespeare was so fond of.

No Shakespeare work would be complete without a colourful collection of supporting characters and there are more than enough in this one. There are clowns, constables, courtesans, chaperones and clergymen, all of whom spend a whole lot of time speaking in manic and breathless verse. Unfortunately, it’s pretty tough to follow the plot, since every other scene is interrupted by some old chestnut from George Gershwin or Cole Porter. And since the play is centuries older than these songs, it’s a safe bet that the songs don’t really fit the mood. While there may certainly be a lot of things happening onscreen, the end result is indeed ‘much ado about nothing’.

While most Shakespeare adaptations are content with simply presenting the play, Branagh has higher aspirations for Love’s Labour’s Lost and those lofty goals apparently include re-inventing the 1930’s musical. Much like Woody Allen’s misfire from a few years ago, Everyone Says I Love You, this is a film in which the characters simply stop mid-scene and burst into song. And while there’s certainly nothing unappealing about a good movie musical, this combination of Shakespearean verse and 1930’s dance material is strangely incongruous at best and downright ridiculous on a few occasions. It’s obvious that a lot of care went into this production and Branagh deserves a pat on the back for trying something risky that he obviously loves but let’s get down to it: This is a pretty bad movie. Here’s why:

--The Casting – I can imagine this was a tough movie to cast. They needed actors who could handle Shakespeare but were also very good at singing and dancing. Well, I’m not sure who fits that bill exactly but I’d bet my next two paychecks that Alicia Silverstone is not your answer. She spits out the iambic pentameter like it’s a piece of bubble gum. I almost pitied her as I watched her bizarrely quivering lips try to fit around words like ‘thither’. But her acting is her best skill in this movie, which tells you what you can expect from her singing. Don’t even ask me to explain her dance steps. On the other side, we have Matthew Lillard with the same exact problems. Every time he opens his mouth, something vaguely resembling Shakespeare plops out but Lillard sounds more like a high-school senior reluctantly participating in a class production to earn extra credit. And this guy carries a tune like a sieve holds water, only messier. I realize the importance of casting some young stars for the youth market but next time Ken should look a little harder. (On the positive side, Branagh gives a bravado performance, which only stands to reason because he grabbed himself the meatiest role and Nathan Lane offers a few laughs as the court idiot.)

--The musical numbers – It takes a massive suspension of disbelief to buy ANY story in which people suddenly burst into song, basically because it’s something that never happens in real life. In some movies, the music simply feels like a part of the plot; something that pushes the action along. The musical numbers in this movie never even come close to that. Every time a song like “There’s No Business Like Show Business” or “Cheek to Cheek”, all we’re left thinking is “Hmm…I guess Branagh thinks that song fits in here somehow.” While choreographed and photographed in a beautiful style, the non-stop musical interludes make the film stall like a beaten-down Camaro.

--The tone – Modern moviemakers need to learn one small lesson: Stop trying to re-create your childhood memories to the letter. It’s simply impossible to re-create the air of innocence and simplicity that make all the ‘corny old musicals’ so enjoyable after all these years. Watching Fred Astaire suddenly break out dancing worked. Watching Alicia Silverstone do it does not. There are some scenes in Love’s Labour’s Lost that are quite simply hysterical…and not on purpose. Trying to infuse the tone of the 1930’s musicals, old-time Shakespearean poetry and modern slapstick comedy simply doesn’t work here…and I doubt it would ever work anywhere. There are even a few segments where this movie comes treacherously close to ‘howler’ material, as in you can’t believe what you’re seeing. It’s that bizarre and it’s that silly. ( This review is published under licence from Apollo Communications Ltd and may not be reproduced without the express permission of Apollo Communications.)

Nudity Report: Ms. Silverstone shows up in a few low-cut gowns and offers a mildly exciting bathing suit bit. That’s pretty much it.

IMDB Summary: 781 IMDb users rate this one at 6.2/10.

Box Office: Grossed just over a quarter-million bucks.

DVD Info: Widescreen Anamorphic format, deleted scenes, outtakes, ‘making-of’ featurette.


Written by: Scott Weinberg