Love's Labour's Lost

I won't hide the fact that this mostly criticized pop-cultural retelling of a literary classic literally thrilled me. Kenneth Branagh demonstrated extraordinary sensitivity for this storytelling, successfully (literally) dancing on the edge between original art and blatant kitsch, which, though not as thin as in Moulin Rouge!, still places it in a slightly different league. The rhymed dialogues, the unique singing, and the breathtaking dance numbers are the main pillars of Branagh's success, of which he is duly proud, and from his filmmaking, one can feel not only the joy of work but also admiration for Shakespeare's work, as evidenced most in the humorous scenes, which are not only countless but are all "top-notch." My only criticism may be directed towards occasional stiffness in certain scenes, which unfortunately stands out in the 90-minute duration and can be quite distracting and disruptive. However, that doesn't detract much from me giving it the highest rating. (07/21/2005)

The naive, foolish atmosphere supported by music and dance scared me at first, but when you buy into what Kenneth Branagh's playing at, you can navigate the confusion in a calm pace until the end – I would call out the magically awful speaking performance of Timothy Spall. (09/07/2005)