This movie is a classic example of the they're-sure-having-fun-up-there concept of entertainment. It was filmed in a matter of days at director/adaptor Joss Whedon's own house, with actors who are all his friends, in cheap black and white on digital cameras. (Whedon famously conducts after-work readings of Shakespeare with the casts of his television shows and films, so he had plenty of practice.) And you know what? Everybody sure does look like they're having fun up there, to the point where you want to forgive the film's obvious flaws just because you feel like you're an invited guest at an intimate dinner party.
This horny, very funny staging of Much Ado About Nothing is set in an opulent modern-day estate during a wedding, when distant friends and family gather together because they have to. It's a cozy affair, and the actors are all practically flirting with Shakespeare's language (standouts include Clark Gregg, who wins this affable movie's coveted Most Affable award; Nathan Fillion, who feasts on his small comic-relief role; and Amy Acker as a strong, confident Beatrice). There's some silly physical comedy, there's willful deception on a large scale, and, because Much Ado is arguably the world's first rom-com, every major player makes one asshole move that seems totally out of character. (Blame the writer for that last one.)
But it's light and fun and funny and delightfulâit's so rare that a movie claps Shakespeare on the back like an old bud, rather than putting him up on a pedestal like he's in a museum. Who cares if some of the acting is a little hambone? (Alexis Denisof's Benedick wavers between charming and cartoonish.) Or that the music, by Joss and Jed Whedon, is simply terrible? Or that a few directorial tricksâa whooshing whiteout transition between scenes is more jarring than usefulâseem more telenovela than feature film? Everybody isâall together nowâhaving so much fun up there that you want to forgive them their trespasses. And so you do. 
