Much Ado About Nothing (1993) - An enjoyable movie for a relaxing evening at home! The wordplay and acting of Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson, starring as Benedick and Beatrice, two marriage-phobic rivals unsuccessfully trying to escape love somewhere in an idyllic Italian town several centuries ago, give the pleasure of the movie. However, Claudio (Robert Sean Leonard) is a very unconvincing lover showing no emotions to the news that his false accusations killed his beloved Hero (Kate Beckinsale). The other oddity of the movie is Keanu Reeves as the bastard(ly) brother of the prince(ly) Denzel Washington -- why would anyone (and particularly Kenneth Branagh) cast Keanu Reeves for a Shakespeare comedy is beyond me. Michael Keaton is an entertainingly talkative nutcase whose verbiage is all non-sense in reverse order. Of course, the sumptuous Tuscan scenery is as idealized as possible, but then again this is not an Italian movie about Italian lovers -- it is Shakespeare for the masses!

DVD. 8/10