Review of Love's Labour's Lost

I usually count on Kenneth Branagh to make sense of Shakespeare, but this adaptation just doesn't do it for me. In the first place, KB makes a big mistake by casting himself. Passing himself off as a school boy when he's in his forties is the first unbelievable notion. Secondly, the casting of Alicia Silverstone is another misfortune. I hate to say it, but most of the time she is totally clueless as to what she is talking about. I guess KB didn't have time to explain it to her. She memorized the lines for sure, but there is nothing behind them. Finally, these great songs from the 30's and 40's just don't work in the context of Shakespeare. You have all this fluid 17th century language and poetry, then suddenly they're singing about doing the Charleston! One of the first rules of musical theater is that the lyrics of the songs have to match the style of the book, otherwise the mismatch is too jarring to the ear, as it was in this case. I did enjoy the choreography, especially the flying sequence in "Cheek to Cheek" and Nathan Lane can do no wrong wherever he turns up.