Fabrizio del Wrongo writes:

Whenever I see an interview with Joss Whedon I experience a slight urge to throw up. Yet I’ve enjoyed several of his projects. I thought his recent stab at “Much Ado About Nothing” was pretty good. The material provides the director with an opportunity to spotlight his ensemble-oriented strengths, and the mundane suburban setting allows the characters to take hold in your perceptions. The movie comes across as a conscious repudiation of the superhero genre’s Need to be Awesome, a mandate which sometimes made Whedon’s “Avengers” feel hectoring and overburdened. Here the tone is casual but with a sneaky intensity. You can sense how much Whedon likes his actors; even the weaker performances display a tenderness that feels carefully nurtured. Of the cast, Amy Acker shines most brightly. By turns fierce and vulnerable, her Beatrice is a child-woman whose convictions regarding love and honor provide the movie with fire. How has Acker, who’s quite a beauty, reached the age of 36 without becoming a star? As Dogberry, Nathan Fillion is funny and oddly touching. Though his scenes don’t always come off, his performance seems an extension of the picture’s woozy, slightly daffy temperament. Not only is this one of the better Shakespeare movies of recent years, it’s one of the better romantic comedies. It’s got sparkle and some bite.

Related

• Sax on Whedon’s “The Avengers.”
• Brundle Guy on Whedon’s “The Avengers” and “Cabin in the Woods.”
• UR favorite Riki Lindhome turns up in “Much Ado” in a role that allows her to be droll and sexy. I wrote about her comedy team, Garfunkel and Oates, back here. Blowhard, Esq. wrote about one of their performances here.
• Michael Sragow on “Much Ado.”
• I find the persona Whedon puts across in interviews to be really hard to take.
• The Whedon thing I like the most is probably the short-lived TV series “Firefly.” It’s a bit like libertarian Star Trek. On Netflix Instant.
• Amy Acker on wikiFeet.