Star-studded and bursting with energy, Branagh’s 1993 Much Ado might be the single best screen version of any of Shakespeare’s comedies — and that’s saying something, considering how many strong films have been made from As You Like It, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Taming of the Shrew and the rest. But forget all the other talent on screen: the movie is stolen by the magnificent Emma Thompson, who was seemingly born to play the strong, smart, funny Beatrice and whose rendition of the plays’ famous “Oh, god, that I were a man, I would eat his heart in the marketplace!” speech is absolutely hair-raising.
See also: Whedon’s, of course. Alas, there aren’t that many worthwhile big-screen versions of this rambunctious play.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQHenB-Xv-g]