MovieChat Forums > Much Ado About Nothing (1993) Discussion > am i the only one annoyed with Kenneth B...

am i the only one annoyed with Kenneth Branagh's acting???

posted 15 years ago by pughater999
26 replies | jump to latest

i've only seen this movie (and read the play) twice and that was a few years ago so maybe i don't remember the movie or play as well as i should before posting this, but, i think Kenneth Branagh ruined Benedick. i read the play before seeing the movie and the Benedick i imagined from the play was very different from how Kenneth played him. idk, he seemed too lively and goofy for me when, while reading, i pictured him as a more cold, dark, serious, stolid jerk. but, i may just remember or had read the play incorrectly, idk. BUT, i also hated him as Hamlet (and i read that before seeing the movie too. and this all happened just this year). i found him too dorky, lively and animated in that movie too. i pictured Hamlet as sort of a brooding teenager, not Kenneth Branagh. kenneth's obnoxious acting annoys the crap out of me. why doesnt anyone else feel this way???

[–] oscarbound-2 15 years ago

because most people see the genius of his acting and don't base their dislike of his acting on disappointment that the character isn't exactly how they pictured it. How many people were skeptical of Heath Ledger being the Joker? And what did we get out of it? Genius. As for 'lively and animated', that was the purpose of his character, to seem crazy and mad while he thought of a plan. It's all about masks.

[–] pughater999 15 years ago

Hmm, i just don't like the guy i guess. Ya, i know he was supposed to be crazy, but...he really just annoys me with his goofiness. he always just seems too over the top for me. and, speaking of heath ledger as the joker, now THAT is probably how i'd like hamlet to be played- crazy, but in a creepy kind of way, not a silly, goofy, annoying kind of way.

[–] Tragic-Ophelia 15 years ago

I will try not to sound like an ass, but I adore Kenneth Branagh. Just the fact that he has done so much to bring Shakepeare to the masses is wonderful. I think his acting is inspired. Yes, he is a bit animated, but he really brings the feeling of the scenes forth. You must also remember that much of his acting has been done onstage, where one needs to be a bit more animated, to get the jist of the play across to the audience.
As for his movie production of Hamlet, I found it to be the most visually and auditorially stunning movies I have ever seen. I have read the play, and I have several productions of the play on film/DVD. I have Sir Derek Jacobis' preformance, as well as Sir John Gielguds' version starring Richard Burton, Kurt Brownings production starring Kevin Kline, Sir Laurence Olivier, of course, to name but a few.
In other words, I do not take Hamlet lightly. I say God Bless Kenneth Branagh, and may he keep putting out wonderful movies of great plays.
Natalie A. Stephens

Oh God, we know what we are, but know not what we may be..Shax-Hamlet

[–] pughater999 15 years ago

daahhhhhhh. i feel so alone in my opinions.

[–] bruce-anderson-1 15 years ago

You're not alone. I think him to be a pompous, pretentious and strident peacock.

[–] Tragic-Ophelia 15 years ago

Bite your tongue!! Or I shall surely bite it for you!! O, this is hire and salary, not revenge. It would be too sweet for the likes of you. Know of what you are speaking, before you spread disdain, my sweet!! Discourse is not thy friend. It makes you look green. Perhaps I am drawn to the pompous, and intellegent man, but that is not nessisarilly, a bad thing, in the book that I write in, it is a virtue, and very sexy!!

I have breathed a thousand moans to Kenneths words, without e'en a touch. Can you say the same? Think I may be an ugly cow? Look me up on facebook: Natalie A Stephens.

Ta ta for now!!
N. AKA: TragicOphelia
AKA: OpheliasMad

Oh God, we know what we are, but know not what we may be..Shax-Hamlet

[–] hj-midnightsun 15 years ago

I agree. he's a good actor; he's not a great actor. The problem is he thinks he is. The over-confidence he brings to a roll (which in most cases materialises in an overanimated edge to a character) is always a constant reminder for me that he thinks he's gods gift to shakespeare, film and theatre. I saw him in London as Ivanov, and I gotta say, I thought his co-star, who was the guy who played Gibbs (the drunk one with the sideburns) in Pirates of the Carribbean held the stage and captured he audience much better than he did.

Let the game begin...

[–] JNagarya 12 years ago

The character Branagh is playing is cocky, arrogant, full of himself. It is intended that he come across as an ass. It is necessary that he irritate the character played by Emma Thompson.

What matters, though, is the extraordinary language between the two.

And for those who don't know -- this is a very "hot" story -- the "nothing" in the title refers to the "empty" space between a woman's legs.

[–] Ilario1 15 years ago

You're not alone. He can be annoying at times.

[–] the_frog_princess 14 years ago

He can be annoying, but I think that very quality made him work well as Benedick, a character who considers himself to be the very image of wit.

Taylor Swift spoof: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvEvqFBKVpc

[–] DarcyBrandon 14 years ago

Really? I love him in this movie. I thought he was terrific and really owned the role of Benedick.

[–] realdriftwood 14 years ago

When I first saw Branagh in the movies, I did not care for him. Physically I was a bit put off in that he seems to have no lips at all--but then I thought, that's no fault of his, and it cannot be held against him. Then I thought, as an actor, he IS something of an over-actor. But then I thought of Richard Dreyfuss, whose overacting made him a very rich man indeed: and Kenneth Branagh's overacting disappeared like smoke in a high wind in comparison to Dreyfuss's.

The best thing Branagh has done in his career is to take himself seriously as a Shakespearean actor. I suspect Shakespeare himself was something of an over-actor; I know several of his fellow actors were. And while I would agree that Branagh was rather muscular and dangerous-looking to be a wholly credible Hamlet, I invite any actor to measure himself against Branagh in both Henry V and in Much Ado About Nothing. Shakespeare and Branagh are a happy marriage.

If you want ANNOYING, try the sacred Sir Laurence Olivier playing at Al Jolson in Othello. IMHO, no one has done a better Richard III, and NO ONE IN HISTORY has done a worse Othello.

[–] Luanna255 14 years ago

The Benedick in the play, IMO, is lively and goofy. He is certainly not cold or dark, and he's definitely not serious! Practically every word that comes out of his mouth is a joke, he makes long speeches full of silly extended metaphors and puns, and he tends to shoot his mouth off and say whatever pops into his head. It's true that he also has a more cynical, sarcastic side (and I certainly can't argue about the jerk part), but the jokester side of him is (again, in my opinion) a very important part of who he is.

With Hamlet, you definitely have a point. (Although, I will point out that Hamlet is not necessarily a teenager - the text implies that Hamlet is 30 years old in the gravedigger scene). Kenneth definitely brought out a more lively, animated side of Hamlet. I thought it worked wonderfully in some of the scenes where Hamlet is pretending to be mad, and some of the "comic relief" scenes, but at other times I felt he went a bit over-the-top. However, there were also times in Hamlet where his acting was extremely subdued and moody, as befits the character.

[–] netrek 13 years ago

You are insane, he is a brilliant actor!

><> <><

[–] joint-2 13 years ago

hell yes he's annoying! check him out as dr frankenstein. not only is he a flaming a$$hole as an actor , but he also ruins a classic story by his over the top direction! sending his his wife flaming down the stairs in a lame attempt to satisfy the lust for action in the modern viewer! ok, perhaps he has shakespeare cred but in mary shelly's frankenstein (NOT) he was a total douchebag!

[–] idya 13 years ago

I've always pictured Benedick as the annoying/loud guy in the room , so his acting made it just right for me haha.

[–] elijaprice 12 years ago

Branagh's funny like that, sometimes I like him and think he's great ('Henry V'), and sometimes he gets right on my wick ('Peter's Friends').

Perhaps because he plays characters in a deliberately 'theatrical' way? In 'Much ado', at times it's almost like he's gurning for an audience.

His directing is the same - sometimes I think it works really well ('Much ado' and 'Hamlet'...being good examples), and sometimes it is just dreadful (have you seen 'Sleuth'? Jee. Zus. Christ. That's appalling).