The result is good-natured enough to withstand both an uneven cast (Alessandro Nivola and Adrian Lester are standouts, while Alicia Silverstone and Matthew Lillard struggle gamely) and its own limited novelty value.

| May 24, 2022

Broad and wildly uneven, this Labour teeters on the edge of the amateur. Yet it's hard not to root for its moonstruck spirit, or to succumb to the panache of the pastiche.

| Mar 6, 2018

The play emerges as silly, redundant, odd. It doesn't really emerge at all.

| Nov 28, 2017

A noble experiment that didn't quite work out.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Jan 1, 2011

It may not be 'hip', but it's definitely enjoyable and it's a shame that there isn't more scope for genuine musical talents like Lester to utilise their gifts in modern cinema.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 18, 2008

A luscious labor of love.

| Jul 6, 2008

We all know who's going to pair off with whom in the end, but Branagh does get us there in some considerable style.

| Jul 6, 2008

An act of double homage to antique artifice.

| Feb 9, 2006

Alicia Silverstone was better as Batgirl than in this piece of garbage. I don't think she even understood what she was saying.

| Original Score: 0.5/5 | Dec 6, 2005

Branagh takes one of Shakespeare's lesser-known plays and puts his own imaginative spin on the subject.

| Original Score: B | Apr 9, 2005

Maybe Kenneth Branagh should have left the Hollywood musical where he found it, back in the 1930s.

Full Review | Feb 21, 2004

| Original Score: 5/10 | Jun 19, 2003

Devices meant to keep Shakespeare user-friendly instead reduce the story to a jumble.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Jun 6, 2003

Casting Silverstone as the princess gives final proof of Branagh's temporary (one hopes) insanity.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/4 | May 14, 2003

Love's Labour's Lost wasn't lost on me at all; if I could float into the air, singing 'Cheek to Cheek' with total, unabashed sincerity, I probably would.

| Original Score: B- | Jan 10, 2003

It's a delightful blend of past styles and songs that adds a much-needed zest to a dry and dreary movie season.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Nov 22, 2002

Branagh covers all the plot points, uses heroically long takes for the dance numbers and oversees an enormously talented group of designers and costumers.

| Jun 5, 2002

It's never hugely engaging and it's instantly forgettable, but it has a certain goofy charm...

Full Review | Original Score: C+ | Apr 3, 2002

A masterpiece that merges the Bard's bittersweet wisdom with the wit, style, and idealism of '30s Hollywood musicals.

| Mar 24, 2002

| Original Score: 2/4 | Mar 22, 2002