Love's Labour's Lost

(Great Britain/USA, 1999, 90 minutes)

The King of Navarre and three of his courtiers swear off women for three years to devote themselves to study, but their vows are sorely tried when the Princess of France and three of her loveliest handmaids arrive to take care of state affairs. One of Shakespeare’s lesser comedies, much abridged, becomes a whimsical musical revue in the manner of the Astaire & Rogers musicals, set in the 1930s and using classic tunes by Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter et al; but the surprisingly clumsy handling wastes the cast’s game efforts and a few nice script ideas.

Pathé Pictures and Intermedia Films present a Shakespeare Film Company production in association with The Arts Council of England, Le Studio Canal Plus and Miramax Films. Starring Alicia Silverstone, Natascha McElhone, Emily Mortimer, Carmen Ejogo, Richard Clifford, Daniel Hill, Alessandro Nivola, Kenneth Branagh, Matthew Lillard, Adrian Lester, Timothy Spall, Arthur O’Donnell, Nathan Lane, Stefania Rocca, Richard Briers, Geraldine McEwan, Jimmy Yuill. Directed and written by Kenneth Branagh, adapting the stage play "Love's Labour's Lost" by William Shakespeare; produced by David Barron and Kenneth Branagh; original music and musical director, Patrick Doyle; director of photography, Alex Thomson; production designer, Tim Harvey; costume designer, Anna Buruma; film editors, Neil Farrell and Don Farrell; choreographer, Stuart Hopps; vocal coach, Ian Adam.

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