Love's Labour's Lost (2000)

Really Surprised!

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

I love Shakespeare and musicals, and I have a great respect for Kenneth Branagh. Love's Labour's Lost was not as bad as I'd heard, but I can actually understand the criticisms as while it does have its charms it is a heavily flawed film. The play is one of Shakespeare's weakest due to how overly-wordy it is, so I knew that when I heard about this film that it can go either way. I will start off by saying that Branagh does deserve credit for trying to make Shakespeare's work accessible to wider audiences, but it uncharacteristically came in mixed results here. I often praise Branagh for his respect and understanding for Shakespeare, but his other films especially Much Ado Nothing, Hamlet and Henry V did this much better. Other than the title and some of the dialogue, which is not the most poetic and witty Shakespeare has done but has evidence of both, there's not really enough that of that Shakespeare feel. That is largely because while making a noble attempt to make the play accessible Branagh oversimplifies the writing and consequently loses the story's consequently making it here thin and too much of an excuse to string song-and-dance numbers one or another.Another consequence is that as a directing job it is on the unimaginative side and feels like too much West End not enough Branagh. There are also two miscasts. Matthew Lillard is a tall, handsome and likable guy, but here he constantly sounds and looks like he's got something up his nose. Even more problematic is Alicia Silverstone, who I liked in Clueless, but I thought she was pretty awful here both as a singer-dancer and as a Shakespearean actor, she can barely sing a note without being breathy and out of tune and is often behind the beat in the singing, and in terms of acting her delivery is always forced and awkward especially in the darker shift of tone. Finally, I usually like Timothy Spall a lot but his I Get a Kick Out of You was for me an embarrassment.On the plus side, the 30s setting is evoked absolutely beautifully, and it is well filmed too. The songs from the likes of Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Irving Berlin are outstanding, and the dancing sequences in the film do have a lot of charm and pizazz, especially Let's Face the Music and Dance, There's No Business Like Show Business and They Can't Take That Away from Me. Even though the singing is not exactly great, it isn't entirely awful, the best voice of the entire cast easily comes from Carmen Ejogo. The characters are not that developed, due to the oversimplifications but do have a lot of easy-going charm and likability that I can't hate them. Some members of the cast, namely Branagh, Richard Briers and Geraldine McEwan do show an understanding of Shakespeare, how it should sound and feel. I did like most of the performances. Branagh is not entirely convincing age-wise but is enthusiastic at least in his role. Briers and McEwan are splendid, while Nathan Lane is hilarious. I especially loved Natascha McElhone and Adrian Lester. McElhone plays her role with such beauty and depth, and Lester is sublime in his equally sublime musical set piece.All in all, has its charms but for me it is not one Branagh's finest hours. 6/10 Bethany Cox

I think this is one of the weakest of the Kenneth Branagh Shakespearian works. After such great efforts as Much Ado About Nothing, etc. I thought this was poor. The cast was weaker (Alicia Silverstone, Nivoli, McElhone???) but my biggest gripe was that they messed with the Bard's work and cut out some of the play to put in the musical/dance sequences.You just don't do Shakespeare and then mess with the play. Sorry, but that is just wrong. I love some Cole Porter just like the next person, but jeez, don't mess with the Shakespeare. Skip this and watch "Prospero's Books" if you want to see a brilliant Shakespearean adaptation of the Tempest.

I found Kenneth Branagh's Love's Labors Lost to be delightful. There are those who approach the Bard with religious awe and will be scandalized by how much of the original script has been truncated here and replaced by singing. And there will be those hate or adore Branagh and cannot view this movie without comparing it to others of his movies. And there will be those who love musicals and are bewildered at performances by the usually unsung and flatfooted. But taken on its own merits, it's a fun, farcical, giddy, touching, beautiful, musical romp. In its spirit, it reminded me of "A Funny Thing Happened to Me on the Way to the Forum" but with a simpler plot and more beautiful imagery and language.As others have commented here, Love's Labors Lost is not Shakespeare's best, but there are some gems of language and an amusing, though fairly simple, plot. Branagh did just the right editing of some of the more tedious or dated wordplay and set the action in a romantic Navarre surrounded by the very real dangers of a European conflagration. I couldn't help but imagine Shakespeare delighting in the light elegance and witty turns of phrase in the Cole Porter and Gershwin music... exactly the spirit of the original and a good match for the plot but adapted to modern sensibilities. I enjoyed the singing and dancing by actors who don't routinely do this sort of work; it added to the naturalness and effervescence of the performances. On the whole, it's not dazzling musical fare, but its perfectly enjoyable, almost a musical parody of musicals. And the clowning was just ridiculous in the best sense of the word, and often slapstick.In short, it's not a conservative adaptation of Shakespeare, it's not a Broadway extravaganza, it doesn't have deep or complex character development or conflict. It's an unusual and well done movie. And it's just fun. Enjoy!

This odd production of Shakespeare's 2nd-rate comedy is not bad with its admixture of various old standard song-and-dance numbers from American musical comedies by Kern, the Gershwins and Irving Berlin as well as real and not so real newsreel clips from World War 2. That it doesn't really make sense is balanced by the fact that it has the courage of its anachronisms and doesn't try to do so.The song-and-dance numbers are mostly only tenuously connected to the action of the play but this is part of the film's charm. Though I wonder why Nathan Lane is channeling Ethel Merman in the song from Berlin's "Annie Get your Gun", "There's no Business Like Show Business" but, never mind, it works well enough.I only feel that after a while I have gotten the joke and wish it would soon end.And while only Kenneth Branagh is really a Shakespearean actor, the others do well enough in this artificial atmosphere though the women's forced merriment gets to be a trial. And Miss Silverstone's acting is generally adequate until the mood suddenly darkens towards the end and then she's not up to it at all.The DVD extra with the actors' comments is quite helpful and, yes, they prerecorded their songs (you can watch them doing it here.) and lip-synching to their own voices afterwards.