I don’t like Will Gluck as a filmmaker. Ever since Year One of this blog’s existence, I’ve been weary of the unbearably smug approach he has to storytelling, especially when he’s trying to adapt from other sources. While the first Peter Rabbit film wasn’t that bad (although it was definitely jarring with that EpiPen scene), its sequel along with that awful Annie remake positively reeked of creative influence from someone who thinks he knows so much better than the original writers, and just can’t stop writing checks that his actual skill set can’t cash. Learning that a rom-com from this guy is now out in cinemas is, to put it lightly, concerning, and I can’t say I was looking forward to it. What I can say is that, at long freaking last, I can safely say that I enjoyed a Will Gluck movie.
Oh, for the first third-or-so, I was certainly worried that I was in for another shitshow. The very idea of Gluck trying to modernise Much Ado About Nothing, one of my favourite Shakespeare works, sounds like a hardened brick of hubris being wedged directly into my earholes, and the contrivances early on are quite annoying. Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell in the lead roles of Bea and Ben have great chemistry right from the start, but that initial misunderstanding-leading-into-break-up is not only very tenuous, but their respective reactions to it made them both look pretty goddamn terrible. Having quotes from the original play written onto the scenery throughout the whole film didn’t help either; felt like I was watching Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby all over again.
Of course, contrivances are part of what make Much Ado About Nothing function as a story. The entire nucleus of the narrative is a complicated setup so that two people think they actually love each other, and then pushing for that until they actually do. Where this gets odd is that Gluck and co-writer Ilana Wolpert’s spin on the concept is… actually pretty clever. They grab onto a genuine reaction to the idea that these two just so happen to keep overhearing people talk about how much they secretly like each other, and then turn that around on everyone else and fake their way through a friend’s wedding while making them all think that the plan worked. It’s an acknowledgement of how silly that entire scheme ultimately is, and in this case, Gluck actually made a change that is an improvement on the original, as fond as I am of it.
It helps immensely that the main love story works as well as it does, though. Set against some beautiful Aussie scenery (complete with Bryan Brown waiting for me to kinda-not-really slag off his wife again... long story), Ben and Bea are not only amazingly hot on their own, but are a very compelling couple, even during the façade stage. I haven’t seen Euphoria, so my only real past experience with Sydney Sweeney is through Reality from earlier this year, so seeing her in something lighter and more fun was appreciated, and Powell really embraces the dashing leading man role he’s been given… even if he is working for Goldman Sachs.
The surrounding mood of their rising-and-falling relationship is reminiscent of the self-aware cheesiness of Ticket To Paradise from last year, in that there’s an identifiable earnestness to how the film presents the idea of love. Even with the somewhat postmodern approach to its source material, it only goes against the grain in so much as an actual couple would in the same circumstances. It’s the kind of cliché that sticks out as goofy in the same way as your parents deliberately inviting your ex to a family event in the hopes that you’ll get back together, which also shows up here and is also pointed out specifically as being ridiculous. It willingly (and rather deservingly) pokes at the tropes of the genre, but only to point out that their lameness largely serves to get in the way of genuine emotional engagement on our side of the screen, and true love on theirs.
This is definitely one of the more pleasant surprises I’ve had this month, and indeed this whole year. Will Gluck seems to have finally found a writing partner that can help him rein in his more obnoxious tendencies, while still letting him pick apart the storytelling trends that audiences are more than familiar with at this point. It may not have the same writing quality with the specific dialogue as the original Much Ado About Nothing, but as a modern spin on the material, it still works, and I’d honestly recommend this just for the sweet and joyous energy that its two leads bring to the screen.
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