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Much Ado About Nothing

Much Ado About Nothing

Drama · Comedy · Romance · 1993

In this Shakespearean farce, Hero and her groom-to-be, Claudio, team up with Claudio's commanding officer, Don Pedro, the week before their wedding to hatch a matchmaking scheme. Their targets are sharp-witted duo Benedick and Beatrice -- a tough task indeed, considering their corresponding distaste for love and each other. Meanwhile, meddling Don John plots to ruin the wedding.

Movie details

Much Ado About Nothing

“Romance. Mischief. Seduction. Revenge. Remarkable.”

1993 Drama · Comedy · Romance 1h 51m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.9 / 10

Community rating

In this Shakespearean farce, Hero and her groom-to-be, Claudio, team up with Claudio's commanding officer, Don Pedro, the week before their wedding to hatch a matchmaking scheme. Their targets are sharp-witted duo Benedick and Beatrice -- a tough task indeed, considering their corresponding distaste for love and each other. Meanwhile, meddling Don John plots to ruin the wedding.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Much Ado About Nothing?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Romeo and Juliet

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Kenneth Branagh

Written by

Kenneth Branagh

Emma Thompson

Emma Thompson

Beatrice

Kenneth Branagh

Kenneth Branagh

Benedick

Kate Beckinsale

Kate Beckinsale

Hero

Denzel Washington

Denzel Washington

Don Pedro

Michael Keaton

Michael Keaton

Dogberry

Keanu Reeves

Keanu Reeves

Don John

Robert Sean Leonard

Robert Sean Leonard

Claudio

Court is in session

Put Much Ado About Nothing on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.