My Favorite Romantic Movie

The cast of Kenneth Branagh’s Much Ado About Nothing

My favorite romantic movie combines great literature with great cinema: it’s Kenneth Branagh’s interpretation of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing. My wife and I love watching this movie together, but the first time we watched it on DVD we got a bit of a surprise we weren’t counting on. We had watched it several times on a videotape I had recorded from PBS, so when it came out on DVD I was looking forward to watching it in its original widescreen format so we could see every bit of what was filmed. What we didn’t realize was that the opening credits had been edited for public TV because of an extended bath scene showing the men and ladies of Messina au natural. So, in fact, we did get to see “every bit” of the film.

Much Ado About Nothing is funny and romantic with a terrific cast, especially Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson. One of the highlights for me, though, is Michael Keaton as Dogberry. Don’t miss this great movie.