Monday, June 2, 2014

Love's Labour's Lost (2000)


IMDb plot summary: An update of the classic Shakespeare story, director Kenneth Branagh shot this movie like a classic 30s musical. Love's Labour's Lost tells the story of four best friends who swear off love.
Directed by Kenneth Branagh. Starring Kenneth Branagh, Alessandro Nivola, Alicia Silverstone and Natasha McElhone.

I LOVE what this movie was trying to do. Absolutely love it. But most of the time, unfortunately, it doesn't work. Subpar singing makes a lot of the songs very difficult to listen to, and the acting choices are confusing and awkward. Alicia Silverstone may be playing the most obnoxious heroine I've ever seen in a Shakespeare movie. That's not to say there aren't some good moments -- Adrian Lester's "I've Got a Crush On You" is charming and entertaining, and I was extremely moved by the cast's rendition of "They Can't Take That Away From Me." Swap out about half the cast for more talented musical performers, and this could have been a favorite. And I REALLY wanted to love it. As it was, though, it had far too many awkward, uncomfortable performances for me to really say I enjoyed it.

2 stars.

Flickchart: #1265 out of 2144, below The Secret War of Harry Frigg and above A Christmas Carol (2004).

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