Much Ado About Nothing

’Much Ado About Nothing’ Looks Like a Pretty Fun Party at Joss Whedon’s Place

The trailer for Joss Whedon’s already much praised adaptation of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing—yes, the one he filmed at his Santa Monica home to as a relaxing (?) break from the The Avengers—has arrived. The trailer features a jazzy soundtrack, Benedick and Beatrice barbs, and some acrobats. Expect this one to become a regular on the DVD player on Friday afternoons in high-school English classes.

The movie already has its built-in audience of Whedonites, who will be excited to see some of his regular players speaking the Bard’s words—the idea was borne out of Whedon’s regular parties, where friends would come over and read plays—but it also drew raves out of the Toronto Film Festival in September. Christopher Schobert at Indiewire’s The Playlist wrote: "The result is an utter joy, Whedon’s most emotionally resonant and fully realized feature film to date. And I say that as one who is not a devoted member of the Whedon army." Catherine Shoard at The Guardian wrote that Whedon has "made the first great contemporary Shakespeare since Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet."