I really didn't like this version. Much Ado must be my favorite of Shakespeare's texts, and I saw a tremendous potential in a modern transposition. Sadly, it is poorly treated. Benedict and Beatrice sound like a pair of bickering, sourpuss ex spouses, rather than the witty, smart, fun pair they should be (how sorely I missed Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson!); "Sicily" is more like a California backwater, with CA plates on cars (barely out of focus) and large American style kitchen; one cannot just pretend that pouring rivers of red wine in all glasses starting at breakfast and filming in black and white will achieve Italian realism.
Adherence to the original text is great, and I really appreciate it, but it require an acting tour de force the cast did not stand up to. It feels artificial, and all the fun is gone.
One great scene, not sufficient to redeem the whole movie: the extravagant masked party, that comes together apparently effortlessly, and looks magnificent.
Sad. I didn't even stay until the end.
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